Mediapartners-Google
Google's other crawler.
Quick answer
Mediapartners-Google is the crawler Google uses to visit sites that participate in Google AdSense or Ad Manager, so it can choose relevant ads to display on those pages. Its job is ad relevance on ad-supported pages, separate entirely from how a site ranks in Google Search.
What it does
Mediapartners-Google visits sites that have signed up for Google AdSense or Ad Manager, reading page content so Google can select ads relevant to what's on that page, which is the mechanism behind contextual advertising on many ad-supported sites. Google treats it as a special-case crawler built for a specific advertising function rather than general search indexing, and like other special-case crawlers, it ignores the blanket '*' user agent rule in robots.txt; a site needs a rule addressed specifically to 'Mediapartners-Google' to control it. This bot is unrelated to Googlebot's search-indexing crawl, so a site's relationship with Mediapartners-Google depends entirely on whether it runs Google's ad products, not on its general search presence.
Facts
Operator
Robots token
Mediapartners-Google
User agent string(s)
- Mediapartners-Google
- (Various mobile device types) (compatible; Mediapartners-Google/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.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?
Mediapartners-Google only matters to sites running Google AdSense or Ad Manager, since its entire purpose is picking relevant ads for those ad placements; a site with no Google ad inventory gets no benefit from allowing it and loses nothing by blocking it. For a site that does monetize through AdSense or Ad Manager, blocking Mediapartners-Google can mean Google has less page content to work with when choosing ads, which can translate into less relevant, and potentially lower-paying, ads on that page. Because it ignores the general '*' robots.txt rule, a site can't accidentally block this crawler with a broad disallow meant for other bots; blocking it takes a rule written specifically for 'Mediapartners-Google'. This decision is entirely about ad revenue and relevance, with no connection to Google Search ranking or AI training.
How to block it
Add this to robots.txt, addressed specifically to Mediapartners-Google since it ignores the general '*' rule: user-agent: Mediapartners-Google disallow: / Sites running Google AdSense or Ad Manager generally want this allowed, since it's how Google selects relevant ads for the page.
Frequently asked questions
Does Mediapartners-Google affect my Google Search ranking?
No. Google documents this crawler as visiting participating sites to provide them with relevant ads, which is unrelated to Search ranking.
Who needs to care about Mediapartners-Google?
Mainly sites running Google AdSense or Ad Manager, since this crawler reads page content specifically to choose relevant ads for those placements.
Can a blanket robots.txt rule for all crawlers block Mediapartners-Google?
No. Google says Mediapartners-Google ignores the global '*' user agent rule, so blocking it requires a rule addressed specifically to 'Mediapartners-Google'.
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
- Mediapartners-Google visits participating sites to provide them with relevant ads. Source: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/google-special-case-crawlers (checked Oct 2026)
- Mediapartners-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)
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