Google has recently updated its documentation on robots.txt file support, providing clearer guidelines for webmasters and SEO professionals.
Key Points of the Update:
Supported Fields: Google explicitly states that it only supports four fields in robots.txt files:
- user-agent
- allow
- disallow
- sitemap
Unsupported Fields: The update clarifies that fields not listed in the documentation, such as 'crawl-delay', are not supported by Google.
Format Clarification:
- Valid lines consist of a field, a colon, and a value.
- Spaces are optional but recommended for readability.
- Comments can be added using the '#' character.
Rule Specifications:
- 'allow' and 'disallow' fields are referred to as rules or directives.
- Rules are specified as 'rule: [path]', where [path] is optional.
- Path values must start with '/' and are case-sensitive.
Default Behavior: By default, there are no crawling restrictions for designated crawlers.
Path Interpretation: The [path] value is relative to the root of the website from where the robots.txt file was fetched.
This update aims to reduce confusion about supported fields in robots.txt files and provide clear guidelines for effective use of robots.txt in controlling search engine crawling behavior.
Webmasters should review their robots.txt files to ensure they are using supported fields and following the specified format for optimal interaction with Google's crawlers.
