It's Time for Twitter to Take URL Structure Seriously
About three months ago, I mentioned in a ClickZ article that Twitter should consider tightening up its structure to avoid some of the duplication it's creating in its URLs.
Back then, for example, Twitter had about 1.4 million URLs indexed on its secure (HTTPS) server. Today, that number has tripled to about 3.5 million. That latter number is just a shadow of the total number of URLs indexed that aren't on the HTTPS protocol, which is about 314 million.
Cap style -- the way URLs appear in your browser (upper or lowercase) -- is just as bad a problem. This link shows the tip of the duplication iceberg using @CNNbrk as an example. A smart server issues URLs in only one cap style and accepts only those same URLs, while redirecting any variations that get requested.
The following image, taken from that link, shows six different cap styles for the single account:
And don't forget the mobile site, m.twitter.com, which gets indexed right alongside the full-bodied version.
About the only canonicalization that Twitter is getting right is the www/non-www issue. Other than that, chaos rules.
The index size wars are over. Lean is the new fat. It's time for Twitter to make a few small tweaks and consolidate some of its splintered authority. All they need to do is agree on a case and protocol style, then either redirect non-conformers or issue canonical tags, and the problem will dry up relatively painlessly.
I also need to acknowledge the work of my industry colleague Edward Lewis, a vocal proponent of what he calls proper "Pascal casing." I make this acknowledgment despite the fact that he didn't appreciate my joke about the way he's "Blaising a trail" for proper Pascal case.