# APIs-Google

## Quick answer

APIs-Google is a Google crawler that delivers push notification messages on behalf of Google APIs a site owner's own integration requested. It's one of Google's special-case crawlers, built to support a specific technical function rather than general search indexing or AI training.

## What it does

APIs-Google exists to support push notification delivery for Google APIs that a site owner has already integrated into their own site or app, so its activity is tied to functionality the site requested rather than to open-web discovery. Like other Google special-case crawlers, APIs-Google ignores the blanket '*' rule in a robots.txt file, since the site owner's own use of a Google API is treated as separate from general crawling permissions, but a rule written specifically for 'APIs-Google' still controls it. It follows robots.txt directives addressed to it directly, and Google publishes an IP range file covering this and other special-case crawlers so traffic can be verified as genuinely coming from Google.

## Facts

- Operator: Google
- Robots token: APIs-Google
- User agent string(s): APIs-Google (+https://developers.google.com/webmasters/APIs-Google.html)
- Purpose: other
- Respects robots.txt: yes
- IP ranges: https://developers.google.com/static/crawling/ipranges/special-crawlers.json

## Should you block it?

APIs-Google only matters to sites that have integrated a Google API that relies on push notifications, so for most sites this bot has nothing to decide. If a site does use such an integration, blocking APIs-Google by addressing a rule to it specifically could break the delivery of those push notifications, since that's the function Google documents for this crawler. Because it ignores the general '*' robots.txt rule, a site can't accidentally block APIs-Google with a blanket disallow aimed at crawlers in general; blocking it takes a deliberate rule naming 'APIs-Google'. There's no connection here to search ranking or AI visibility, so the decision comes down entirely to whether the site depends on a Google API push-notification feature it wants to keep working.

## How to block it

Add this to robots.txt, addressed specifically to APIs-Google since it ignores the general '*' rule:

user-agent: APIs-Google
disallow: /

Most sites should leave this crawler alone unless they specifically want to break a Google API push-notification integration they've set up.

## FAQ

### What does APIs-Google actually do?

It delivers push notification messages on behalf of Google APIs that a site owner's own integration requested, according to Google's documentation on its special-case crawlers.

### Will blocking APIs-Google hurt my search ranking?

No. APIs-Google has nothing to do with Google Search indexing or ranking. It supports a specific push-notification function tied to Google API integrations.

### Can a general 'disallow all crawlers' rule block APIs-Google?

No. Google says APIs-Google ignores the global '*' user agent rule, so blocking it requires a robots.txt rule addressed specifically to 'APIs-Google'.

## Sources

- APIs-Google crawling preferences affect delivery of push notification messages by Google APIs. Source: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/google-special-case-crawlers
- APIs-Google ignores the global '*' user agent rule in robots.txt. Source: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/google-special-case-crawlers