AdsBot-Google
Google's other crawler.
Quick answer
AdsBot-Google is the crawler Google uses to check the quality of landing pages behind Google Ads campaigns. It's one of Google's special-case crawlers, built to support a specific Google product rather than general search indexing, and it follows robots.txt rules written specifically for its own user agent.
What it does
AdsBot-Google visits the landing pages an advertiser has linked to from a Google Ads campaign and checks them for ad quality, which feeds into how Google Ads rates the page experience behind an ad. Google treats AdsBot-Google as a special-case crawler: unlike Googlebot, which crawls broadly for Search, AdsBot-Google only looks at pages tied to active ad campaigns. It ignores a robots.txt file's blanket rule written for all crawlers, the '*' user agent, because an advertiser has already agreed to let Google check those specific landing pages when they set up the campaign. A rule addressed directly to 'AdsBot-Google' in robots.txt still controls what it can crawl. Google publishes its IP ranges so site owners can confirm real AdsBot-Google traffic.
Facts
Operator
Robots token
AdsBot-Google
User agent string(s)
- AdsBot-Google (+http://www.google.com/adsbot.html)
Purpose
Other
Respects robots.txt
Yes
IP ranges
https://developers.google.com/static/crawling/ipranges/special-crawlers.json
From Google's documentation, checked Oct 2026.
Should you block it?
AdsBot-Google only matters if the site runs Google Ads campaigns. If it does, blocking AdsBot-Google can stop Google from checking the ad's landing page, which can affect the page quality score and, in turn, ad performance and cost. Because AdsBot-Google ignores the general '*' rule in robots.txt, blocking it requires a rule written specifically for 'AdsBot-Google', so most sites running ads should leave it alone or explicitly allow it. A site that doesn't run Google Ads gets no benefit from allowing AdsBot-Google, since it has nothing to do with organic search ranking or AI visibility; Googlebot and other crawlers are unaffected either way. The practical decision is tied entirely to whether paid Google Ads campaigns are active, not to broader concerns about search or AI visibility.
How to block it
Add this to robots.txt, addressed specifically to AdsBot-Google since it ignores the general '*' rule: user-agent: AdsBot-Google disallow: / To allow it instead, use 'allow: /', which matters if the site runs Google Ads campaigns that need their landing pages checked.
Frequently asked questions
Does AdsBot-Google affect my Google Search ranking?
No. AdsBot-Google only checks landing pages behind Google Ads campaigns for ad quality. It has no connection to Google Search ranking, which Googlebot handles separately.
Why does AdsBot-Google ignore my robots.txt rules for all crawlers?
Google says the global '*' user agent rule is ignored by AdsBot-Google, since an advertiser already agreed to landing-page checks when setting up a Google Ads campaign. A rule addressed directly to AdsBot-Google still applies.
Do I need to do anything if I don't run Google Ads?
No. AdsBot-Google has no effect on a site that isn't running Google Ads campaigns, so there's nothing to configure either way.
Related
- AI crawler directory — every AI crawler's robots.txt token, purpose and facts in one place.
- Free AI crawler checker — check which AI crawlers a domain's robots.txt actually allows or blocks.
- Glossary — definitions of the AI-visibility terms that come up alongside crawler behavior.
Sources
- AdsBot-Google crawling preferences affect Google Ads' ability to check web page ad quality. Source: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/google-special-case-crawlers (checked Oct 2026)
- AdsBot-Google ignores the global '*' user agent rule in robots.txt. Source: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/google-special-case-crawlers (checked Oct 2026)
MarketHQ tracks brand mentions across communities, news, blogs, social and AI answers, and turns them into gap analysis and action plans.