Robots exclusion standard facts for kids
The robots exclusion standard is a special way that websites tell Web robots and Web crawlers which parts of the site they are allowed to look at. Think of it like a set of rules for robots visiting a website.
Website owners use a simple text file called robots.txt to give these instructions. They place this file in the main folder of their website. For example, it might be found at http://www.example.com/robots.txt. This file lists which pages or sections robots should not visit.
However, not all robots follow these rules. Some "bad" robots, often called malicious robots, might ignore the robots.txt file completely. If a website does not have a robots.txt file, most good robots will assume they are allowed to look at all parts of the site.
Contents
What are Web Robots?
Web robots are computer programs that automatically browse the internet. They do many different jobs. Some robots, called web crawlers, are used by search engines like Google. They read web pages to help them appear in search results. Other robots might collect information or perform other tasks.
How Robots.txt Works
The robots.txt file is a simple text document. It contains rules that tell robots what they can and cannot do on a website. These rules are usually written in a specific format that robots can understand. For example, a rule might say "do not visit this folder" or "do not look at this specific page."
Why Websites Use Robots.txt
Websites use robots.txt for several reasons:
- Saving Resources: It can stop robots from looking at pages that are not important for search results. This saves the website's computer power.
- Privacy: It can prevent robots from finding private areas of a website, like admin pages.
- Controlling Search Results: It helps website owners control which pages appear in search engines. For example, they might not want temporary pages to show up.
Important Things to Know
- It's a Suggestion: The robots.txt file is more of a suggestion than a strict command. Good robots follow it, but bad ones might not.
- Not for Security: It's not a security tool. If you have very private information, you should protect it with passwords or other security measures, not just robots.txt.
- Public File: Anyone can view a website's robots.txt file. It's not a secret.
Examples of Robots.txt Files
Here are some simple examples of what a robots.txt file might look like:
- Allowing all robots to see everything:
User-agent: * Disallow:
This means "any robot" (`User-agent: *`) is allowed to visit "no disallowed pages" (`Disallow:`).
- Blocking all robots from the entire site:
User-agent: * Disallow: /
This means "any robot" (`User-agent: *`) is not allowed to visit "anything on the site" (`Disallow: /`).
- Blocking a specific folder:
User-agent: * Disallow: /private/
This tells all robots not to look inside the folder named `/private/`.
- Blocking a specific file:
User-agent: * Disallow: /secret-page.html
This tells all robots not to look at the file named `secret-page.html`.
See also
