What is MgidBot?

MgidBot is a bot in the advertising and marketing bots category, operated by MGID.

Bot name
MgidBot
Operator
MGID
Type
Bot
Respects robots.txt
Yes
robots.txt user agent
MgidBot
Signs requests (Web Bot Auth)
No

About MgidBot

MgidBot is used for detecting context categories of the content for advertising recommendations.

Advertising bots review landing pages, check ad placements and classify pages for brand safety and contextual targeting. Blocking ad verification bots can stop your ads or your inventory from serving, so allow the ones your ad partners use.

MgidBot user agent

MgidBot identifies itself with this user agent string:

  • MgidBot 1.0

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 MgidBot in robots.txt

MgidBot follows robots.txt, so these rules stop it crawling the paths you choose. robots.txt is a plain text file at the root of your domain, such as https://example.com/robots.txt.

Block MgidBot from the whole site

User-agent: MgidBot
Disallow: /

Block MgidBot from some folders

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

Allow MgidBot only on some folders

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

Allow MgidBot and block other crawlers

User-agent: MgidBot
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: MgidBot group, MgidBot ignores your User-agent: * rules, so repeat any that should still apply.
  • The user agent name is not case sensitive. We take MgidBot from MgidBot's user agent; check MGID'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. MgidBot may not follow the rule. MgidBot says it follows robots.txt, but nothing enforces that. Changes can take a day to apply, the operator can change its policy, and other crawlers from MGID use different names and rules.
  2. The user agent could be fake. robots.txt matches the name a request claims. Anyone can send MgidBot's user agent, and a scraper using it is not bound by MGID's robots.txt policy. Only checking the source network tells a real MgidBot from a fake one.

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

Who should care about MgidBot

Publishers

Ad verification and contextual crawlers like MgidBot can decide whether your pages get demand. Blocking the ones your partners use can lower fill rates.

Transfon Security for publishers

Media buyers and advertisers

MgidBot checks pages for ad platforms. Its visits to landing pages are not users, so exclude them from conversion data.

Transfon Security for advertisers

E-commerce

Ad platforms send crawlers like MgidBot to check product landing pages. Keep it allowed so ads are not disapproved, and out of analytics.

Transfon Security for e-commerce

SaaS and APIs

Allow MgidBot on landing pages linked from your ads, and keep it off the app.

Transfon Security for SaaS and APIs

Block MgidBot with Transfon Security

robots.txt is a request, not an enforcement. Transfon Security shows MgidBot 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 MgidBot on your site

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

Frequently asked questions

What is MgidBot?

MgidBot is a bot in the advertising and marketing bots category, operated by MGID. MgidBot is used for detecting context categories of the content for advertising recommendations.

Does MgidBot respect robots.txt?

Yes. MgidBot follows robots.txt, so a Disallow rule for the MgidBot user agent stops it from crawling the paths you list.

How do I block MgidBot?

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

Is robots.txt enough to block MgidBot?

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

Should I block MgidBot?

Advertising bots review landing pages, check ad placements and classify pages for brand safety and contextual targeting. Blocking ad verification bots can stop your ads or your inventory from serving, so allow the ones your ad partners use.

Related bots

All advertising and marketing 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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