Wierd urls in google search console

Hello,

Has anyone an idea what can cause these faulty urls found in google search console?

https://www.xxx.xx/produkt/friluftsliv/mat-og-turkjokken/vann-og-vannrensing/katadyn-befree-vannfilter-06l/. esc_url( home_url( $url ) ) .

Google has visited the first faulty url on the 8. June then one new url/page every day thereafter.

Just wondering where the . esc_url( home_url( $url ) ) . can come from, any idea?

The only updates in and before this time periode is Yoast and Woodmart.

Brgds
Rune

Hello,

Could you please check how it works with some default WordPress themes like TwentyTwenty-Five or WooCommerce Storefront to understand if it is our theme issue or not?

Best Regards

Hello,

Sorry, but that is not possible as it is a very active production site and issue seems to be very sporadic. The last registered with google was the 12. June. I just got one now from Bingbot:

51.105.67.13 [17/Jun/2026:08:54:13 +0000] GET “/produkt/friluftsliv/skotoy-og-fritidsklaer/andre-fritidsklaer/wiggler-myggjakke/.%20esc_url(%20home_url(%20$url%20)%20)%20.” HTTP/2.0 403 “-” “Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; bingbot/2.0; +http://www.bing.com/bingbot.htm) Chrome/116.0.1938.76 Safari/537.36” 51.105.67.13 “/error-403.php” – 2.12 600 0.006 0.007

It has the same wierd ending.

Brgds
Rune

Hello,

This issue is not related to WoodMart or WooCommerce. The strange part of the URL like . esc_url( home_url( $url ) ) . indicates that a PHP function is being output as plain text inside a link instead of being executed properly. This usually happens when a custom code snippet, theme modification, or plugin is incorrectly inserting PHP code into a URL string. As a result, Google and Bing bots are crawling and indexing these broken URLs.

Since the issue started after recent updates, please check any custom code in your child theme or functions.php file, especially anything using home_url() or esc_url(), as well as any custom SEO or snippet plugins. It is also recommended to temporarily disable recently updated plugins and clear all caches (including CDN if used) to see if the issue stops. This is a dynamic output issue rather than a permalink or SEO plugin bug, so identifying the source of the broken PHP output will resolve it.

Best Regards

Hello,

I have no customizations or snippets using anything like that. Checked sitemaps and scanned my entire site source code for issues with the actual urls, but nothing to find. The latest plugin installed was GTM kit for google tag manager so i have deactivated this plugin to see if that helps, otherwise it must be YOAST plugin. So will see what happens for the next few weeks.

Another thing when we are into url issues. I have a code in my 404 page that reports all human visits that gets a 404 page not found. A code i have been used for years with all my Woodmart and other sites. On my 5 Woodmart sites i have now and then found visits to urls like this: /produkt/matforedling/slakteutstyr/maskiner-og-utstyr/

The above url is starting with /produkt/ which means it is for my product permalinks, but it ends in a product category. The url should be something like this, ending in a product: /produkt/matforedling/slakteutstyr/maskiner-og-utstyr/brecom-polsestapper-5-liter/ – or like this, an correct product category url: /produktkategori/matforedling/slakteutstyr/maskiner-og-utstyr/

Something puts the /produkt/ into wrong url, or remove the single product at the end.

I have not had any concerns about this as it has happend only 2-3 times per month, but now i have only my new site left so i thought it could be an idea to checkout what can be causing these wrong urls. As mentioned this has only happend on my sites using Woodmart, 5 of them in total but now only 1 left.

I am browsing my site on a daily basis looking for issues but never seen it myself, so it is very sporadic.

Brgds
Rune

Hello,

Please check how it works with the default WordPress theme and the WooCommerce Storefront theme just to check whether the issue is with our theme or not. Also, please check the site with our theme but only with the theme’s default plugins activated, and deactivate all the 3rd party plugins from the site.

If it works fine with the default WordPress theme, then provide the admin panel login details of the website to check it myself and help you out accordingly.

Best Regards,

Hello,

Well, it is not possible to test using another theme as my site is a very active webshop and the issue happens only sporadic, 2-3 times per month. What i can say is that i have built more than 30 websites for the last 10-15 years, 5 of these was built on Woodmart theme and the only sites that have had this issue.

Anyway, it is no big deal as it happens not very often. I just wanted to check in if you had any idea why this is happening.

So feel free to close this ticket.

Brgds
Rune

Hello,

This URL pattern is not generated by WoodMart or WooCommerce. It indicates that a plugin is outputting a PHP snippet as plain text inside a URL.

Since it’s sporadic, it’s likely coming from a third-party plugin, snippet, or cached output rather than the theme itself. Please try disabling plugins and clearing all caches/CDN to check again.

Hope this Helps!

Best Regards

Hello,

Well, just to explain a little better. I have my main site / webshop and from this shop i have generated lots of copies into different domains. This for dropshipping customers that has promoted their copy, made their sales and we have packed all the orders from our warehouse and sent the order to our customers customer.

All these sites has been a copy of my woodmart site, the same customizations and plugins, only difference was the theme that was picked by my dropshipping customer. As mentioned 5 of all these sites was using woodmart theme and was the ONLY sites where we got these sporadic wrong urls.

I have never done any deeper investigation on this because it happens so very sporadic but maybe i should add some more functionality to my code in the 404 page so i can see referrer and what else needed to know, just of curiosity.

For now i am about to retire myself after 40 years in this business, developing and building webshops. I have no more dropshipping customers and only 1 webshop left, just for hobby 🙂

Brgds
Rune

Hello,

Based on everything you’ve shared, we still don’t see any indication that this is being generated by WoodMart. Since the issue is very sporadic and cannot be reproduced, it’s difficult to identify the exact source without additional debugging.

Your idea of enhancing the 404 logs to capture referrers and other request details would be the best way to investigate it further, if needed.

Thank you for your feedback and for using WoodMart over the years. We wish you all the best with your retirement and hobby webshop.

Thanks for contacting us.
Have a great day.

Topic Closed.
Best Regards.

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