Knowledge base v2.13.0 · Community edition · data through 2 October 2026
Topic · Crawling
When Google does not know a URL's quality or popularity, it uses the aggregate of its parent path, then that path's parent. This was shown on a slide and is not in Google's public documentation. Day 2 extended the idea to indexing: Google said index selection is more forgiving with new URLs from a site, or even a section, that already satisfies users well (said at the event, not in Google's docs). Author’s view: new content therefore starts with the reputation of the folder it sits in, for crawling and for indexing. Day 1's second recording added a stage remark that the quality driving crawl demand is that of the site as a whole. Author’s view: read it beside the slide's fallback to the parent path, which applies only when a URL's own quality is unknown: site quality sets the baseline while known URL-level signals still count.
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What to do
If the quality or popularity of a URL is unknown, the aggregate quality or popularity of its parent path is used, then that path's parent, and so on.
“If quality or popularity is unknown, use parent root's aggregate quality or popularity is used, then, that path's parent's, and so on.”
Wording checked against the slide or recording
Speaker Cherry PrommawinIn Day 1, 16:00 · How Google thinks about crawl budgetEvidence slide photo, transcript
Used byrequirement DEV-URL-10
New content inherits its starting crawl demand from the folder it sits in. Put new high-value content under sections Google already rates well, not under weak ones.
Author Ibrahim AnjroAnnotates Day 1, 16:00 · How Google thinks about crawl budget
Used byrequirement DEV-URL-10
The stage remark that crawl demand follows the quality of the site as a whole sits beside the same talk's slide (D1-C094), which falls back to the parent path's aggregate only when a URL's own quality is unknown, and Google's crawl budget guide lists page quality among the demand factors; read it as site quality setting the baseline while known URL-level signals still count.
Author Ibrahim AnjroAnnotates Day 1, 16:00 · How Google thinks about crawl budget
Index selection uses what Google already knows about a site: if the site, or even a section of it, satisfies users' needs well, new URLs from it are treated more forgivingly.
“the index selection system is going to be more forgiving when it sees a new URL from your site”
Speaker GoogleIn Day 2, 15:40 · Deciding what goes in the index?Evidence transcript
Used byrequirement DEV-URL-10
Launch new pages under sections that Google already indexes well, and improve or remove weak sections, because index selection judges new URLs partly by what it knows about the site and the section they sit in.
Author Ibrahim AnjroAnnotates Day 2, 15:40 · Deciding what goes in the index?
Used byrequirement DEV-URL-10
Google's slide on structurally similar content asked whether a new URL that fits a known duplicate pattern, such as /buy/seo-service, even needs to be crawled.
If the quality or popularity of a URL is unknown, the aggregate quality or popularity of its parent path is used, then that path's parent, and so on.
Index selection uses what Google already knows about a site: if the site, or even a section of it, satisfies users' needs well, new URLs from it are treated more forgivingly.
If the quality or popularity of a URL is unknown, the aggregate quality or popularity of its parent path is used, then that path's parent, and so on.
Launch new pages under sections that Google already indexes well, and improve or remove weak sections, because index selection judges new URLs partly by what it knows about the site and the section they sit in.
New content inherits its starting crawl demand from the folder it sits in. Put new high-value content under sections Google already rates well, not under weak ones.
Rests on 4 claims, 4 of them in this topic