Published on 2025-08-07T06:18:08Z

AdsBot-Google

AdsBot-Google is a legitimate and specialized web crawler operated by Google. Its primary function is to evaluate the quality and relevance of landing pages for the Google Ads platform. The data it collects is crucial for determining an ad's Quality Score, which directly influences ad ranking and cost-per-click for advertisers. It is not used for indexing content for Google's organic search results.

What is AdsBot-Google?

AdsBot-Google is an official web crawler from Google specifically designed to support the Google Ads advertising platform. Its key role is to analyze the landing pages that advertisers link to in their campaigns. Unlike Google's main crawler, Googlebot, which indexes content for organic search results, AdsBot-Google focuses on assessing landing page quality, relevance, and user experience. It identifies itself in server logs with user-agent strings like AdsBot-Google or AdsBot-Google-Mobile, helping website owners distinguish its activity from other Google crawlers. This analysis is a critical part of how Google calculates Quality Scores for advertisers.

Why is AdsBot-Google crawling my site?

If AdsBot-Google is visiting your website, it is almost certainly because one of your pages is being used as a landing page in a Google Ads campaign. This could be a campaign you are running yourself or one managed by an affiliate or partner. The bot's visit is triggered when Google needs to assess or re-assess the quality of these pages, often after changes have been made to the website or a new ad campaign is launched. The frequency of visits is directly tied to your Google Ads activity. This is a legitimate and necessary part of Google's advertising service.

What is the purpose of AdsBot-Google?

The core purpose of AdsBot-Google is to evaluate landing page quality, which directly impacts several key metrics in the Google Ads platform. Its analysis affects an advertiser's Quality Score, a metric Google uses to determine ad effectiveness. This, in turn, influences Ad Rank (how high an ad appears) and the cost-per-click. By rewarding advertisers who provide high-quality, relevant, and user-friendly landing pages (e.g., fast load times, mobile-friendliness), Google aims to maintain a healthy advertising ecosystem. For advertisers, ensuring AdsBot-Google can access their pages is crucial for achieving better ad positions and potentially lower costs.

How do I block AdsBot-Google?

While it is possible to block AdsBot-Google, it is generally not recommended if you are running Google Ads campaigns, as this can negatively impact your ad performance. Blocking the bot will prevent Google from evaluating your landing page quality, which could lead to lower ad rankings and higher costs.

However, if you must block it, you can add the following rule to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: AdsBot-Google
Disallow: /

How to verify the authenticity of the user-agent operated by Google?

Reverse IP lookup technique

To verify user-agent authenticity, you can use host linux command two times with the IP address of the requester.

```
> host IPAddressOfRequest
```
This command returns the reverse lookup hostname (e.g., 4.4.8.8.in-addr.arpa.).

> host ReverseDNSFromTheOutputOfFirstRequest

If the output matches the original IP address and the domain is associated with a trusted operator (e.g., Google), the user-agent can be considered legitimate.

IP list lookup technique

Some operators provide a public list of IP addresses used by their crawlers. This list can be cross-referenced to verify a user-agent's authenticity. However, both operators and website owners may find it challenging to maintain an up-to-date list, so use this method with caution and in conjunction with other verification techniques.