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

YandexWebmaster bot

The YandexWebmaster bot is a primary web crawler for the Yandex search engine. It discovers and indexes content for search results, and its activity is closely tied to the Yandex.Webmaster tools service. This service provides site owners with insights into their site's performance in Yandex search, making the bot's crawling a key part of managing a site's visibility in the Russian market.

What is the YandexWebmaster bot?

The YandexWebmaster bot is a web crawler from Yandex that serves as a main indexing bot for its search engine. The bot systematically visits websites to discover and index content. It identifies itself in server logs with the user-agent string YandexWebmaster, though it is part of the broader YandexBot family. Website owners can manage their site's relationship with Yandex through the Yandex.Webmaster service, which provides tools for monitoring indexing status and optimizing site visibility.

Why is the YandexWebmaster bot crawling my site?

The YandexWebmaster bot is crawling your site to discover and index its content for Yandex search results. It is looking for new content and updates to existing pages to keep its index current. The frequency of visits depends on factors like your site's popularity and content update schedule. This is a standard and authorized activity for a major search engine.

What is the purpose of the YandexWebmaster bot?

The purpose of the YandexWebmaster bot is to support the Yandex search engine by discovering and indexing web content. The data it collects helps Yandex maintain a comprehensive and current search index. For website owners, the bot's activity provides the benefit of visibility in Yandex search, and the associated Yandex.Webmaster service offers tools to help site owners understand how their site appears in Yandex and to identify technical issues.

How do I block the YandexWebmaster bot?

To prevent the YandexWebmaster bot from accessing your website, you can add a specific disallow rule to your robots.txt file. This will prevent your pages from being indexed in Yandex's search results.

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

User-agent: YandexWebmaster
Disallow: /

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

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., Yandex), 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.