The question
When near-duplicate URLs exist and you are choosing between canonical tags, redirects or leaving them.
You have multiple URLs serving substantially the same content, such as parameter or protocol variants, and are deciding how to consolidate.
Why it matters
Pointing canonicals at the wrong URL or contradicting them with internal signals confuses engines and can drop the version that actually converts, while ignoring duplication splits ranking signals and wastes crawl budget.
How to decide
IfIf duplicates must all remain accessible, such as filtered or tracked variants
ThenYes - canonicalise them to the single preferred URL and keep signals consistent.
IfIf a duplicate serves no user purpose at all
ThenNo - redirect it instead of canonicalising; removal is cleaner than a hint.
IfIf pages are similar but serve distinct intents
ThenNo - differentiate them rather than declaring one canonical.
IfIf internal links or sitemaps point at non-canonical versions
ThenYes - align every internal signal with the canonical, or the tag will be ignored.