attachment-sitemap.xml ?

Hi @soupaddict

When you enabled the Search Index Purge Plugin, it’s expected to create a static XML sitemap, containing all the attachment URLs on a given site. It will then make sure that every attachment URL will return a 410 status code. This process makes sure that Google spiders all the attachment URLs again and set them to 410 status which will be dropped eventually from search results.

You can read more about it here: https://yoast.com/media-attachment-urls/

Hi,

You identified several issues. We have responded to them below.

1. You do realize, though, that it’s now a vicious circle: the sitemap causes Google to reindex the attachment files, and the plugin attempts to 410’s them … which it doesn’t.
Odd. We would expect the purge plugin to output a 410 on your attachment pages. Can you provide an example URL? We’d be happy to confirm the purge plugin is working as expected.

2. It’s been almost a year, and all of my attachment files (11 years’ worth) are still appearing in GSC.
If the purge plugin is working we would expect those attachment pages to drop off in Google.

3. All of those attachment files now show up as crawl errors in GSC. All of them. You can watch this vicious circle right in my GSC: Google indexes the first attachment sitemap. Crawl errors go up by exactly 1,000 pages.
That’s expected behavior. The purge plugin is expected to output a 410 on those pages. Google then shows crawl errors for them. Google is letting you know that these pages have errors. You can then review them and make a judgement call on what to do.

In this instance, do nothing. It is expected.

Please also know that having 410 errors is not expected to affect the SEO of your site. It is only expected to make Google drop off those attachment pages. Indeed, this purge plugin method of showing 410 was approved by Google. This guide explains more: https://yoast.com/media-attachment-urls/

4. A few days later, they get 410’d (apparently), and the crawl errors go back down. A few days later, Google indexes the attachment sitemap again. The crawl errors go right back up. (This happens with the 2nd attachment sitemap, too, in a separate cycle).
This is expected. We understand the concern with suddenly seeing lots of crawl errors. So long as the crawl errors are related to those attachment pages you can ignore them.

5. Believe me, no one wishes more than I that I had just sat tight and changed the media redirect setting, and let things play out. This extra plugin has been a nightmare.
We apologize for the frustration but the 410 is the fastest and most efficient way to remove those attachment pages. It should take about 6 months between the time you put the purge plugin on and when those pages all drop off. Can you confirm it has been at least 6 months?

6. So, if I deactive the extra plugin, will the redirect settings kick in and get rid of this problem once and for all? AND will the attachment sitemaps go away?
Yes, you can remove the purge plugin and make that redirect. This will output a 301 redirect on the attachment pages (instead of a 410). You can also expect Google to eventually drop those attachment pages off of the SERPs but it will take a longer time.