Hidden HTTP Pages Can Break Your Site Name in Google

SEO
1

image
image760×400 35.2 KB

Google Warns About Hidden HTTP Homepages Causing Site-Name and Favicon Issues

Google’s John Mueller recently shared a case where a leftover HTTP homepage caused unexpected site-name and favicon problems in search results. The issue can be easy to miss because Chrome automatically upgrades HTTP requests to HTTPS, hiding the HTTP version from normal browsing. Googlebot, however, does not follow this upgrade.

What Happened

Mueller described the case as “a weird one.” The site used HTTPS, but a server-default HTTP homepage was still accessible. He explained:

“A hidden homepage causing site-name & favicon problems in Search. This was a weird one. The site used HTTPS, however there was a server-default HTTP homepage remaining.”

Since Google’s site name system pulls the site name and favicon from the homepage using structured data, title tags, headings, og:site_name, and other signals, Googlebot ended up reading the wrong page. The HTTP version contained default content, not the intended HTTPS homepage, leading to incorrect display in search results.

How To Check For This

Mueller suggested two practical ways to see what Googlebot sees:

  1. Command line with curl:

    This shows the raw HTTP response without Chrome’s automatic upgrade. If the response is a default page instead of your actual homepage, that’s the source of the problem.

  2. URL Inspection tool in Search Console:

    Use the Live Test to see what Google retrieved and rendered. Note that site names aren’t supported in the Rich Results Test.

Why This Matters

Since Google replaced title tags with site names in 2022, display issues have continued to evolve. Site-name support expanded to subdomains in 2023, and bugs with internal pages persisted for nearly a year.

This case highlights a new complication: the issue may not be in your HTTPS homepage or structured data, but in a hidden HTTP version that your browser never exposes. Google’s documentation recommends ensuring structured data is consistent on both HTTP and HTTPS versions, but this example shows the risks when a server-default HTTP page exists.

Key takeaway: If site names or favicons look wrong in search results, check the HTTP version directly, don’t rely on your browser.

How to Fix It

  • Confirm whether an HTTP homepage exists using curl or the Live Test.

  • Remove the leftover HTTP page or implement a server-level redirect from HTTP → HTTPS.

  • Ensure structured data (WebSite) on the HTTPS homepage is correct, as Google considers the homepage (domain-level root URI) the authoritative source.

Following these steps should resolve site-name and favicon discrepancies in search results.