What is ArenaBot?

ArenaBot is a bot in the link preview bots category, operated by Arena.im.

Bot name
ArenaBot
Operator
Arena.im
Type
Bot
Respects robots.txt
Not confirmed
robots.txt user agent
ArenaBot
Signs requests (Web Bot Auth)
No

About ArenaBot

Link preview bot for Arena.im's live engagement platform. Fetches page previews when URLs are shared in Arena's live chat, live blog, and community tools.

Link preview bots fetch a page when someone shares its URL in a chat app or social network, to build the preview card. Blocking them breaks your link previews, so keep them allowed but leave them out of analytics and ad requests.

ArenaBot user agent

ArenaBot identifies itself with this user agent string:

Anyone can copy a user agent string. Transfon Security also checks where each request comes from, so a request that claims to be a known crawler but comes from the wrong network is treated as a fake, not as the real crawler.

How to block ArenaBot in robots.txt

We have not confirmed whether ArenaBot follows robots.txt. Add a rule, then check your logs to see that it stopped. robots.txt is a plain text file at the root of your domain, such as https://example.com/robots.txt.

Block ArenaBot from the whole site

User-agent: ArenaBot
Disallow: /

Block ArenaBot from some folders

User-agent: ArenaBot
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /search

Allow ArenaBot only on some folders

User-agent: ArenaBot
Allow: /blog/
Disallow: /

Allow ArenaBot and block other crawlers

User-agent: ArenaBot
Allow: /

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

Things to know

  • Each host needs its own file. Rules on www.example.com do not apply to shop.example.com.
  • A crawler obeys only the most specific group that names it. Once you add a User-agent: ArenaBot group, ArenaBot ignores your User-agent: * rules, so repeat any that should still apply.
  • The user agent name is not case sensitive. We take ArenaBot from ArenaBot's user agent; check Arena.im's own documentation if it publishes a different robots.txt name.
  • Crawlers cache robots.txt, so changes can take up to a day to apply. Disallow stops crawling but does not remove pages already collected or indexed.

Limits of robots.txt

  1. ArenaBot may not follow the rule. robots.txt is a request that nothing enforces, and we have not confirmed that ArenaBot follows it. Check your logs after adding a rule.
  2. The user agent could be fake. robots.txt matches the name a request claims. Anyone can send ArenaBot's user agent, and a scraper using it is not bound by Arena.im's robots.txt policy. Only checking the source network tells a real ArenaBot from a fake one.

Treat robots.txt as a statement of your policy, and enforce it where requests arrive.

Who should care about ArenaBot

Publishers

ArenaBot fetches pages when your links are shared or syndicated. Keep it allowed so previews and feeds work, but leave it out of page views and ad requests.

Transfon Security for publishers

Media buyers and advertisers

When ads or posts are shared, ArenaBot fetches the landing page. Those hits are not clicks, so keep them out of campaign reports.

Transfon Security for advertisers

E-commerce

Product links shared in chats and feeds are fetched by ArenaBot. Keep it allowed so previews show the right image and price.

Transfon Security for e-commerce

SaaS and APIs

Allow ArenaBot on public pages so shared links preview well, and keep it off the app.

Transfon Security for SaaS and APIs

Block ArenaBot with Transfon Security

robots.txt is a request, not an enforcement. Transfon Security shows ArenaBot by name in the Top Bots report, so you can see how often it visits and which pages it reads. Block or allow it with a User Agent rule, or slow it down with a rate limit decision rule.

Transfon Security

Control ArenaBot on your site

  • See every ArenaBot visit and the pages it reads
  • Spot bots that fake trusted crawler names
  • Block, allow or rate limit ArenaBot with one rule
  • Works with or without robots.txt support

Frequently asked questions

What is ArenaBot?

ArenaBot is a bot in the link preview bots category, operated by Arena.im. Link preview bot for Arena.im's live engagement platform. Fetches page previews when URLs are shared in Arena's live chat, live blog, and community tools.

Does ArenaBot respect robots.txt?

We have not confirmed whether ArenaBot follows robots.txt. Add a robots.txt rule, then check your logs to see that it stopped, and block it by user agent if it did not.

How do I block ArenaBot?

Add "User-agent: ArenaBot" followed by "Disallow: /" to the robots.txt file at the root of your site. To enforce it, block requests whose user agent contains "ArenaBot" at your WAF. In Transfon Security that is one User Agent block rule.

Is robots.txt enough to block ArenaBot?

No. robots.txt is voluntary, so ArenaBot may not follow it, and anyone can send ArenaBot's user agent, so a fake ArenaBot ignores your rule. Enforce the rule where requests arrive, at your WAF, and check the source network.

Should I block ArenaBot?

Link preview bots fetch a page when someone shares its URL in a chat app or social network, to build the preview card. Blocking them breaks your link previews, so keep them allowed but leave them out of analytics and ad requests.

Related bots

All link preview bots · Full bot directory

See Which Bots Visit Your Site

Transfon Security identifies every bot in this directory in your traffic reports, flags fake search crawlers, and lets you allow, block or rate limit each bot.

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