# Improving Search Results: Managing Non-Solution Discussions

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/improving-search-results-managing-non-solution-discussions/288154>\
**Category:** Feature\
**Created:** [December 10, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/improving-search-results-managing-non-solution-discussions/288154 "2023-12-10T15:16:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EricGT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f1d935/32.png) [@EricGT](https://meta.discourse.org/u/EricGT)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/improving-search-results-managing-non-solution-discussions/288154/1 "2023-12-10T15:16:56Z")

</div>

Some forums diligently maintain a high signal-to-noise ratio to swiftly guide users to solutions. However, some forums also host discussions that may not directly lead to solutions.

It would be advantageous if these non-solution-oriented discussions were not indexed by web crawlers and subsequently included in search engine results.

A straightforward approach to achieve this would be to create a category for such topics that is not accessible to web crawlers. While I acknowledge the complexities involved, it’s worth noting that major web crawlers generally respect the directives outlined in [robots.txt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robots.txt) files and such. This could provide a viable means to selectively exclude certain discussions from search engine indexing.

Note:  
This was polished with the use of ChatGPT from original content.  
The title was generated by Discourse AI.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jericson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jericson/32/116215_2.png) [@jericson](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jericson)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 4:08am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/improving-search-results-managing-non-solution-discussions/288154/2 "2023-12-12T04:08:13Z")

</div>

> [@EricGT](#):
>
> It would be advantageous if these non-solution-oriented discussions were not indexed by web crawlers and subsequently included in search engine results.

I guess I’m not sure why it would be advantageous. Sometimes there’s gold in the sprawling discussions people have and sometimes that turns into visitors.You’re better off ignoring search engines and focusing on encouraging interesting discussions.