Re: 401 error not occurring when search by page_name doesn't find match

The word "page_name" is not a valid URL piece to begin with, and
neither is "id". Essentially, neither of these words is looked at by
WordPress, so it thinks you're asking for the main page.

Notice how /?pagename=foo or /?p=1234567890 will both give you a
proper 404 (not a 401)? That's because those are the correct terms to
be using.

-Otto

On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 12:26 PM, Christine Evron
<christine@...> wrote:
> Using v. 3.4-beta4-20766
> twenty 11 theme
> no plugins
>
> WordPress is redirecting to my home page instead of issuing a page not found
> error when people looking to buy garbage (insert spam term here) are sent to
> pages Spammers wish were on my site .
>
> For instance try appending /?page_name=trash&id=1995 to any WordPress url.
> Instead of getting a page not found it goes to the home page. This is bad
> because Google's algorithm seems to associate the trash terms with my site
> if it doesn't get a 401 error.
>
> I could be wrong about Google's associations but the trash terms are not in
> my theme, content, or database and Google hasn't reduced the keyword
> standings for the trash terms. - On my best day I get 20,000 hits that may
> be legit. With the miracle of spam my pages can get 80,000 hits.  Guess what
> Google thinks are significant terms for my site.