Broken images: find images that return 404

What it means

The image file at the URL referenced by an <img src> attribute returns a 4xx or 5xx HTTP error, meaning the image is unreachable when the page loads. This is distinct from a missing src attribute — the URL is present but the server rejects the request.

Why it matters

Googlebot cannot index images that return error codes, so they disappear from image search and lose any structured data signals attached to them. Broken images also waste crawl budget and can delay rendering of the image in the page's semantic tree, which matters because Googlebot reads the page as a semantic tree rather than pixels.

How to fix it

1. Verify the image URL directly in a browser or with curl to confirm the 4xx/5xx status.
2. Check that the image file exists at the expected CDN or origin path and has not been moved or renamed.
3. If the image is served from a CDN, confirm that the CDN domain is not blocked in robots.txt and that CDN ownership is verified in Search Console.
4. If the file is genuinely missing, either restore it at the same URL or update the <img src> to point to the correct URL, keeping the URL consistent across pages.

When it's not a problem

This is a false alarm if the image is optional — for example, a decorative background image that is not referenced by primaryImageOfPage, Open Graph, or an image sitemap. It is also fine if the broken image is on a page that is itself noindexed or excluded from the sitemap, since Googlebot will skip it anyway.

How common is it?

Not yet observed in our audit sample. We publish this explainer because the check runs on every crawl; once an audited site trips it, this page will break the issue down by platform, gatekeeper, vertical and country.

Related guides

• Image SEO: Alt Text, Formats & Lazy-Loading