Myth: an empty out-of-stock page is fine if it returns 200

Myth: an empty out-of-stock page is fine if it returns 200

'Q: My out-of-stock pages show "no products" but return HTTP 200. That's correct, right?'

Short answer: Not always — Google can flag a thin "nothing here" page as a soft 404 regardless of your 200 status.

The longer version: a soft 404 happens when the status code says "OK" but the content says "empty." An out-of-stock category showing zero products and a bare "sorry, nothing available" message looks like an error page to Google's quality systems, and it may get dropped from the index even though you returned 200. The fix isn't to change the status — it's to make the page genuinely useful: show related products, alternatives, or items from a parent category so there's real content to land on.

For a single discontinued product, the rules from earlier apply (301 or keep it live with alternatives). For empty filter combinations, consider not linking to them at all.

Rule of thumb: a 200 page must have real content, or Google treats it as a 404 anyway.

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