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

Mail.RU_Bot

Mail.RU_Bot is the official web crawler for Mail.ru, one of Russia's largest search engines, operated by VK Group. Its function is to scan and index web content to power Mail.ru's search results. For website owners, particularly those targeting a Russian-speaking audience, being indexed by this bot is important for gaining visibility and organic traffic from this significant market.

What is mail.ru bot?

Mail.RU_Bot is the web crawler for the Mail.ru search engine, operated by the Russian technology company VK Group. It is a traditional search engine crawler that systematically visits websites to discover and index content. The bot identifies itself in server logs with user-agent strings such as Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Mail.RU_Bot/2.0; +http://go.mail.ru/help/robots). It also has specialized versions for images (Mail.RU_Bot/Img/2.0) and quick crawling (Mail.RU_Bot/Fast/2.0). It is designed to be a well-behaved crawler that respects standard protocols like robots.txt.

Why is mail.ru_bot crawling my site?

Mail.RU_Bot is visiting your website to discover and index its content for the Mail.ru search engine. The bot is particularly interested in text, images, and metadata that are relevant to its predominantly Russian-speaking audience. The frequency of its visits depends on factors like your site's popularity and content update schedule. This crawling is a standard and authorized activity for a search engine, provided you have not explicitly blocked it.

What is the purpose of mail.ru_bot?

The primary purpose of Mail.RU_Bot is to gather web content to power the Mail.ru search engine, which serves millions of users, primarily in Russia and other Russian-speaking regions. The data it collects is used to rank search results and provide snippets and previews. For website owners, being indexed by this bot provides the benefit of increased visibility to this audience. This can translate to more traffic, especially for sites with relevant content or those targeting the Russian market.

How do I block mail.ru_bot?

If your target audience is outside of Russia and you wish to prevent Mail.RU_Bot from accessing your site, you can add a disallow rule to your robots.txt file.

To block this crawler, add the following lines to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: Mail.RU_Bot
Disallow: /

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

Reverse IP lookup technique

To verify user-agent authenticity, you can use host linux command two times with the IP address of the requester.
  1. > host IPAddressOfRequest
    This command returns the reverse lookup hostname (e.g., 4.4.8.8.in-addr.arpa.). 
  2. > host ReverseDNSFromTheOutputOfFirstRequest
If the output matches the original IP address and the domain is associated with a trusted operator (e.g., VK Group), 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.