htaccess redirect url with dynamic values to homepage

Question

I have some issues with Google indexing certain unwanted URLs on my site such as http://www.example.com/%22tel:333-444-1234, where the number part is dynamic. These pages do not exist, and I am hoping to remove these links from Google's index by using the rel="nofollow" tag. But meanwhile I would like to redirect all URLs containing the string "%22tel:" to a page on my site such as http://www.example.com/page1.html.

I am using Apache. How do I do this?

I tried these codes, it doesn't seem to work.

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^\%22tel:
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.example.com/page1.html/

RewriteRule ^(.*)\%22tel:(.*)$ http://www.example.com/page1.html [L,R=301]

Thanks!

How do these URLs come about in the first place, are you generating them? Would returning a 404 not be the more suitable way to remove the URLs from the search index? — Pekka
– Pekka, Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 8:31
@Pekka웃 Yes, I generate the URLs. But the idea was to allow phone users to dial the number by clicking on the link. I am actually trying to remove them from the Google Search Console error list where I need to 'Fix' them. — James
– James, Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 8:35
Just sending a 404 would fix the problem relatively quickly... or having them in a subdirectory: /tel/.... and excluding it from search engines in the robots.txt. — Pekka
– Pekka, Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 9:00
@Pekka웃 thanks! starkeen's answer solved the redirect issue — James
– James, Commented Jan 31, 2017 at 10:10

Amit Verma · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-31 08:39:18Z

2

You can use the following rule

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} /%22tel [NC]
RewriteRule ^ /page-1.html [L,R]

answered Jan 31, 2017 at 8:39

Amit Verma

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1 Comment

James Over a year ago

That's great! Thank you :)

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