HTTP 302 Redirects Instead of 404 Page Not Found Error in IIS URL Rewrite

SEO: Google Web Master Report Showing Multiple 302 Redirects Instead of 404 Page Not Found Error with IIS URL Rewrite and Web.Config File Fix

While reviewing my Google Web Master Reports, I came across an odd error.

When a 404, Page Not Found, error should be showing for a page that has since been deleted, multiple 302s are generated and Google errors out with something like Err too many redirects.

The root cause was a reconfiguration in Microsoft IIS.

I have a custom 404 error page configuration that references the execution of a customer 404 page for a better customer experience.

Below is what the configuration looks like in IIS. It is set to execute a custom 404.asp page instead of the standard 404.htm page included with IIS.

Let’s zoom out and see that there is another error setting.

If we click to edit the “Error” feature setting, we will see another we are editing the custom 404 setting.

This is the correct setting that solved the issue!  Scroll down to see the wrong configuration.

This is the wrong or bad or incorrect configuration that caused me some grief.

Hope this helps somebody!

Cheers!

Author: Rick Cable / AKA Cyber Abyss

A 16 year US Navy Veteran with 25+ years experience in various IT Roles in the US Navy, Startups and Healthcare. Founder of FinditClassifieds.com in 1997 to present and co-founder of Sports Card Collector Software startup, LK2 Software 1999-2002. For last 7 years working as a full-stack developer supporting multiple agile teams and products in a large healthcare organization. Part-time Cyber Researcher, Aspiring Hacker, Lock Picker and OSINT enthusiast.