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Question About An Automatically Generated Internal URL

An SEO posted about this issue on Reddit while trying to fix technical issues for their client, including removing a link to a web page that the client had not intentionally created and that was automatically generated by the platform, which did not allow editing to remove the link.

Although the URL was blocked by robots.txt, Screaming Frog still detected internal links pointing to the web page, raising concern that Google would be able to find links to the web page.

They asked:

“Hi ya’ll-

I am resolving some high priority issues for my client and I have one last one. There is an internal URL blocked by the robots txt. My client uses Squarespace. The blocked page was not created by the client, but seems to be a spin off by squarespace looking like:

https://domain/categories/=59487a4cd1758e7669102174

The interesting thing, using Screaming Frog, I can find the inlinks to the page, but it’s hidden in an a href. I’ve found it via the developer tools, but I have no idea how to delete the link since SS doesn’t give access to the backend.

What the heck is going on and how do I resolve?”

Seemingly Random Platform-Generated Links Won’t Affect SEO

Google’s John Mueller responded that the URL and the links pointing to are not a search visibility issue. He recommended ignoring the links.

Mueller explained:

“It doesn’t really matter. I’d ignore it. It has no impact on search / SEO at all.

Some platforms just have links like that, if there’s nothing behind the link that you want indexed, there’s nothing you need to do. (And possibly, there might be nothing you can do if you’re on a hosted platform.)”

What Those Squarespace Links Really Are

Hosted CMS platforms control the underlying templates, routing systems, and JavaScript rendering process. That’s why URLs in Squarespace, like the one flagged by the user, cannot be edited because they’re part of the website’s internal architecture.

That URL is quite likely Squarespace’s internal URL identifier in its database. So rather than reference a URL in this way, category=shoes, it references it with the internal database identifier in this manner:

59487a4cd1758e7669102174

The ?format=json-pretty Trick

To see the underlying database IDs for any Squarespace-hosted website, just add ?format=json-pretty to the end of any URL, and Squarespace will stop rendering the visual web page and output the JSON-formatted code for that specific web page. This is a trick that Squarespace developers use.

Screenshot Of ?format=json-pretty Output

That way of doing things makes sense because the CMS system can use one internal canonical identifier for a category URL, and users can change it to whatever they want the URL to be. So no matter what a user chooses the category name to be, even if they change their mind, the internal database identifier stays the same.

Without knowing that information, it may look to an outsider as an instance of a closed source CMS restricting a user’s freedom, something that WordPress seemingly does not do. However, the reality is that Squarespace is providing the user with absolute freedom to name their categories whatever they choose them to be, and those uneditable URLs serve a purpose in making that happen.

WordPress does a similar thing as well with internal identifiers, only it’s more hidden away. WordPress uses a term_id for categories and tags, a post_id for posts, products, pages, and attachments. Sometimes you can see those term_id and post_id in the raw HTML that WordPress generates when you look into the source code, and just like with the now no longer mysterious Squarespace URLs, it is not anything that needs to be edited or removed for SEO purposes.

Technical SEO audits, including crawls with Screaming Frog, can turn up some weird-looking artifacts that are actually supposed to be there. Knowing how a CMS works helps an SEO and a site owner understand whether something weird really is weird and whether it is something that is 100% normal. Especially when working with a CMS that you’re not well acquainted with, it’s important to not make changes for SEO purposes before getting to know how the underlying CMS works. Many times, what isn’t well understood is actually something that is safe to leave alone, as Google’s John Mueller suggested.

As for setting up Screaming Frog for crawling a Squarespace site, it may be useful to set it to obey the Robots.txt or even manually adjust it to exclude certain pages from getting crawled.

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• Scorecard: SunRisers Leeds vs Manchester Super Giants
• The Hundred - latest men's and women's tables for 2026
• Watch The Hundred and more sport contract-free on NOW

The Super Giants, though, put in a strong batting performance in their opening innings, with opener Tim Seifert (28 off 16) and skipper Aiden Markram (32 off 23) providing a solid platform for a brilliant 105-run stand shared by the impressive Jos Buttler (63no off 33) and Heinrich Klaasen (53 off 27), as Markram's side built a sizeable score of 181.

SunRisers Leeds, though, were undeterred by the early dismissal of Ryan Rickleton (13 off 11) by Josh Tongue, as Marsh built an incredible half-ton off 20 balls to get his side back in the game and on pace for a massive chase.

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Former England team-mates Crawley and Brook did the rest, putting on a 68-run stand to secure victory, with Brook delighting his home crowd with six maximums in his cameo including a huge six over midwicket to win the game with 12 balls to spare.

The loss puts SunRisers Leeds level on points with league leaders Manchester Thunder on eight points, though Crawley's side remain fourth in the table with the lowest net run rate.

"It's been a good start. I thought that was a great win by the lads," Player of the Match Mitch Marsh said on Sky Sports.

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• Latest tables in The Hundred

• The Hundred squads for 2026

• Stream The Hundred and more with NOW

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"They're a really good side so it's a really good win for us. We didn't get off to a flyer in the powerplay but we stuck at it. The partnership I was able to have with Zak was great; he batted beautifully today.

"We thought the wicket was a bit slower than the other day... but it's a tough ground to defend. I don't think it changed so much, but as you saw from their innings, once you get a partnership going it's hard to stop."

What's on in the Hundred on Wednesday?

The streak of men's and women's double-headers continue, with Wednesday seeing Welsh Fire take on Trent Rockets, live on Sky Sports from 3:00pm. Watch The Hundred and more contract-free on NOW %!s()

Under the plans announced by FIFA on Tuesday, a $20bn subsidiary would be created to run the World Cup and other events.

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World football’s governing body said it would retain a majority share in the new FIFA Forward Enterprise, offering minority stakes to external investment to raise up to $4.2bn.

The plan still needs to be voted on by FIFA’s 211 member nations.

If successful, the proposed investor group is expected to be led by a vehicle founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, FIFA said.

UEFA said the proposal “crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross”.

Reinvested in the game

FIFA has just held a 48-team World Cup across the United States, Canada and Mexico – the biggest in the tournament’s history.

It is one of the world’s wealthiest sporting organisations, generating billions of dollars, largely from broadcasting rights, sponsorship and other commercial deals linked to the World Cup.

But it says this proposal can increase funds to widen access to the sport and strengthen global participation, with all net benefits to be reinvested in football.

“Football is the world’s most popular sport,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

“Parts of the game have turned that popularity into remarkable commercial value – and we celebrate that success and want it to continue, because it lifts the whole game.

“Our job is to make sure the rest of football grows with it: FIFA exists to support sustainable, inclusive development in every corner of the world.”

FIFA said that in addition to retaining sole control of the subsidiary, it would retain authority over football governance, competitions, match calendars and regulatory and sporting decisions.

‘World Cup is not a product’

The proposal deepens the divide between FIFA and UEFA, with Europe positioning itself as football’s custodian, while FIFA, a not-for-profit organisation, says it is focused on broadening access with financial largesse.

In a statement, UEFA said it takes the new proposals “extremely seriously”.

“So should every National Football Association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game.

“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”

The United Kingdom’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, joined critics, saying on social media that the sport does not belong to investors.

“The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone’s to sell,” Burnham wrote on X.

“Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out.” %!s()

Originally from Ecuador, Izurieta Burbano De Lara has spent years conducting research throughout the Galapagos. Now, her graduate research focuses on understanding the ecology, movements and conservation of a species that had gone largely undocumented in the islands for more than two decades.

Her project expands on a smooth hammerhead conservation project she helped establish in Ecuador, bringing together researchers from Universidad San Francisco de Quito, the Galapagos National Park Directorate, MigraMar and other international partners to better understand one of the Eastern Tropical Pacific's least-studied sharks.

"The Galapagos Islands are famous for their big schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks, but smooth hammerheads hadn't been officially recorded in the archipelago for over 20 years," Izurieta Burbano De Lara said. "We know very little about where they feed, where they go or how their populations are doing."

That changed in 2024 when Izurieta Burbano De Lara's collaborators from Universidad San Francisco de Quito, led by Dr. Alex Hearn, discovered what is believed to be the first documented aggregation of juvenile smooth hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos. Genetic analyses confirmed the species' identity, revealing what may represent an important nursery area—a habitat where young sharks spend the earliest stages of their lives before moving into the open ocean.

A hidden nursery comes into view

The discovery provides researchers with an opportunity to answer fundamental questions about a species that remains poorly understood throughout the Eastern Tropical Pacific and globally.

Although smooth and scalloped hammerhead sharks appear similar at first glance, subtle differences distinguish the two species. Smooth hammerheads lack the central indentation found on the front of scalloped hammerheads' heads, making them difficult to identify from the surface. As a result, the research team believes the species may have been overlooked or misidentified in the past.

"Once we confirmed they were smooth hammerheads through morphology and genetic analysis, we realized we had an incredible opportunity," Izurieta Burbano De Lara said. "Now we're trying to understand why they use this area, how long they stay in the bay, where else in the islands they can be found and whether they are connected with other populations across the Eastern Tropical Pacific."

To answer those questions, the research team is using acoustic telemetry, underwater video systems, genetic analyses and dietary studies. Juvenile sharks are fitted with acoustic transmitters that allow scientists to monitor their movements within the Galapagos Marine Reserve, while DNA samples are compared with populations from across the Eastern Tropical Pacific to determine how connected these populations are.

Tracking sharks across the region

"We're comparing DNA from sharks throughout the region to determine whether the Galapagos acts as a bridge between northern and southern populations," Izurieta Burbano De Lara said. "We're also analyzing fecal samples to understand what juvenile smooth hammerheads are eating and continuing efforts to study subadult and adult sharks, which have proven much more difficult to capture."

Understanding where these sharks travel is essential for their conservation.

Smooth hammerheads, like other hammerhead species, are threatened by overfishing throughout much of their range. Even when protected within marine reserves, highly migratory sharks may travel through international waters where fishing pressure remains high.

"Many shark species migrate through areas outside protected waters where they become vulnerable to international fishing fleets," Izurieta Burbano De Lara said. "We don't yet know whether smooth hammerheads follow those same routes, but that's one of the questions we're trying to answer."

The findings could help strengthen conservation efforts by identifying critical habitats and migratory corridors that require protection. Similar research on other shark species has already contributed to expanding marine protected areas and improving regional conservation strategies.

"Our goal is to provide the scientific evidence needed to inform the government how to better protect these sharks throughout their lives," Izurieta Burbano De Lara said. "If we can identify their nursery areas, migration routes and population connectivity, we can better inform conservation decisions not only in the Galapagos but across the Eastern Tropical Pacific."

A personal stake in protection

For Izurieta Burbano De Lara, the project is especially meaningful because it combines her passion for marine conservation with her connection to her home country. Rather than beginning an entirely new project for graduate school, she continued developing the smooth hammerhead project her team initiated in Ecuador by bringing it to Texas A&M University at Galveston, where it continues to grow through international partnerships.

"Growing up in Ecuador inspired me to become a biologist," she said. "Being able to contribute to the conservation of one of the least-understood shark species is incredibly rewarding. Every new discovery brings us one step closer to ensuring these animals remain part of the Galapagos ecosystem for generations to come."

Charles Darwin documented the Galapagos Islands as he saw them in the 19th century. Thanks to the work of Izurieta Burbano De Lara and others, Texas A&M University at Galveston is working to protect smooth hammerheads and other species so that explorers centuries from now can enjoy them and build on the scientific discoveries surrounding them.

Who's behind this story?

Robert Egan

Bachelor's in mathematical biology, Master's in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language. Full profile →

Citation: Researchers shed light on elusive sharks of Galapagos Islands (2026, July 28) retrieved 29 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-elusive-sharks-galapagos-islands.html

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A research team led by Professor Jaewook Myung from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering found, through a microcosm experiment using water collected from Duck Pond, a pond on the KAIST campus, that algal blooms alter the microbial ecosystem on the surface of low-density polyethylene (LDPE)—a common plastic used in plastic bags—and accelerate its early-stage weathering, in which the surface oxidizes and develops microscopic cracks.

The study is significant because it suggests that, in natural environments, plastic pollution and the eutrophication that drives algal blooms can interact and lead to new ecological changes.

The hidden life on plastic

Over time, plastic debris discarded in rivers and lakes becomes colonized by a wide variety of microorganisms, creating a small ecosystem of its own on the plastic surface. This ecosystem is known as the "plastisphere." The plastisphere is known to influence the spread of pathogens and the transport of microplastics, but little has been known about how algal blooms, a serious form of water pollution, affect this microbial ecosystem.

To investigate this question, the research team constructed microcosms—small-scale experimental systems that recreate natural environments in the laboratory—in which algal blooms were artificially induced by controlling light exposure and nutrient concentrations. Over the following six weeks, the researchers closely analyzed the biofilms forming on the plastic surface, the succession of microbial communities and changes in their functional gene profiles.

Thicker biofilms under bloom conditions

The analysis showed that under eutrophic conditions, in which excessive nutrients trigger algal blooms, cyanobacteria, a major group of photosynthetic bacteria, proliferated alongside a variety of other bacteria, forming a thicker biofilm on the plastic surface. Microorganisms capable of producing large amounts of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) also became significantly more abundant. EPS is a sticky, mucilage-like material that binds microorganisms together and helps them adhere to plastic surfaces.

As the microbial ecosystem on the plastic surface changed, the early weathering of the plastic—including surface oxidation and the formation of microscopic cracks—also accelerated. The team found that microorganisms harboring genes encoding enzymes associated with plastic oxidation and early-stage degradation became more abundant under eutrophic conditions.

Analyses using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) directly confirmed these changes. Oxygen-containing functional groups associated with oxidation, including carbonyl and hydroxyl groups, increased on the plastic surface, while more fine, hairline cracks appeared. These changes indicate that the plastic had become more susceptible to further physical weathering and fragmentation. The results suggest that these changes were driven not by a single microbial species but by the combined activity of a microbial ecosystem comprising photosynthetic and other bacteria.

A case for joint management

Myung said, "As algal blooms become more frequent because of climate change, we expect this work to provide an important scientific basis for integrated environmental management strategies that consider water quality management and plastic waste management together."

The study was led by first author Youngju Kim, a doctoral student from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and was published online in the journal Water Research on May 25, 2026.

Publication details

Youngju Kim et al, Eutrophication drives taxonomic and functional trajectories in plastic-associated biofilms, Water Research (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2026.126183

Who's behind this story?

Gaby Clark

MA in English, copy editor since 2021 with experience in higher education and health content. Dedicated to trustworthy science news. Full profile →

Robert Egan

Bachelor's in mathematical biology, Master's in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language. Full profile →

Citation: Algal blooms accelerate plastic weathering, potentially fueling microplastic formation (2026, July 28) retrieved 29 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-algal-blooms-plastic-weathering-potentially.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. %!s()