How to block GoogleOther
GoogleOther is a generic crawler Google uses for internal research and development fetches, separate from Googlebot. This page shows how to disallow GoogleOther in robots.txt while leaving Search indexing by Googlebot intact.
GoogleOther vs Googlebot
Google documents GoogleOther as a generic crawler product teams use for one-off crawls and internal research, kept separate from Googlebot so that blocking it does not interfere with Search. They are different tokens with different purposes.
That separation is the whole point: you can decline GoogleOther while still appearing in Google Search via Googlebot. Do not block Googlebot if your goal is only to limit non-Search crawling.
- GoogleOther is non-Search, generic crawling
- Googlebot handles Search indexing — a different token
- Blocking GoogleOther does not change Search crawling
robots.txt rule
To disallow GoogleOther site-wide while leaving Googlebot free:
User-agent: GoogleOther Disallow: /
User-agent: Googlebot Allow: /
Google matches the most specific user-agent group, so an explicit GoogleOther group governs GoogleOther and the Googlebot group governs Search. There are also GoogleOther-Image and GoogleOther-Video variants if you need to target media fetches specifically.
How it appears in analytics and logs
GoogleOther hits are Google fetching content for purposes other than building the Search index. Blocking GoogleOther does not affect whether Googlebot can index your pages.
Diagnostic use case
Restrict Google's non-Search crawling (GoogleOther) for resource or policy reasons while keeping Googlebot allowed so your pages still rank in Google Search.
What WebmasterID can help detect
WebmasterID distinguishes GoogleOther from Googlebot in classification, so you can confirm a GoogleOther block lands without mistaking it for a change in Search crawling.
Common mistakes
- Blocking Googlebot when you only meant to block GoogleOther.
- Forgetting GoogleOther-Image and GoogleOther-Video variants.
- Assuming GoogleOther affects Search rankings — it does not.
Privacy and accuracy notes
The rule matches the GoogleOther token, distinct from Googlebot. No visitor data is involved, and robots.txt is a request to compliant crawlers.
Related pages
- GoogleOther — Google non-Search crawler
GoogleOther is a generic crawler Google uses for fetches not tied to building the Search index — for example internal research and development crawls. Google documents it as separate from Googlebot, with its own robots.txt token. Controlling GoogleOther does not affect Googlebot's Search crawling, and vice versa.
- How to opt out of Google AI with Google-Extended
Google-Extended is a robots.txt user-agent token Google provides so site owners can opt out of having their content used for certain Google AI products. Crucially, it is a standalone control: disallowing Google-Extended does not affect Googlebot crawling or your appearance in Google Search.
- User-agent groups and matching in robots.txt
robots.txt rules are organised into user-agent groups. A crawler does not combine every group — it selects the single most specific group whose token matches its name, falling back to the * group only when no named group matches. Understanding this prevents rules that never apply.
- Bot intelligence
Distinguish GoogleOther from Googlebot in your crawl data.
Sources and verification notes
- Google — Overview of Google crawlers (GoogleOther)Documents GoogleOther and its Image/Video variants and tokens.
Last reviewed 2026-06-24. Facts are checked against primary/official sources where available; uncertain specifics are marked “Data not yet verified” rather than guessed.