What is SyntheticBot?

SyntheticBot is a bot in the monitoring and analytics bots category, operated by DataDog.

Bot name
SyntheticBot
Operator
DataDog
Type
Bot
Respects robots.txt
Not confirmed
robots.txt user agent
Datadog
Signs requests (Web Bot Auth)
No

About SyntheticBot

Datadog Synthetics gives you a new layer of visibility on the Datadog platform. By monitoring your applications and API endpoints via simulated user requests and browser rendering.

Monitoring bots check uptime, performance and page changes on behalf of a site owner or a third party. Allow the services you run yourself and exclude them from analytics so they do not inflate page views.

SyntheticBot user agent

SyntheticBot identifies itself with this user agent string:

  • Datadog Synthetic

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 SyntheticBot in robots.txt

We have not confirmed whether SyntheticBot 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 SyntheticBot from the whole site

User-agent: Datadog
Disallow: /

Block SyntheticBot from some folders

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

Allow SyntheticBot only on some folders

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

Allow SyntheticBot and block other crawlers

User-agent: Datadog
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: Datadog group, SyntheticBot ignores your User-agent: * rules, so repeat any that should still apply.
  • The user agent name is not case sensitive. We take Datadog from SyntheticBot's user agent; check DataDog'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. SyntheticBot may not follow the rule. robots.txt is a request that nothing enforces, and we have not confirmed that SyntheticBot 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 SyntheticBot's user agent, and a scraper using it is not bound by DataDog's robots.txt policy. Only checking the source network tells a real SyntheticBot from a fake one.

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

Who should care about SyntheticBot

Publishers

Allow SyntheticBot if it is a service you use, and keep its visits out of page views and ad requests either way.

Transfon Security for publishers

Media buyers and advertisers

SyntheticBot is not a person. Exclude it from campaign and conversion data so reports reflect real visitors.

Transfon Security for advertisers

E-commerce

Allow SyntheticBot only if it works for your store, and keep it away from cart and checkout.

Transfon Security for e-commerce

SaaS and APIs

If SyntheticBot is a service you use, allow it on the endpoints it needs and block it elsewhere.

Transfon Security for SaaS and APIs

Block SyntheticBot with Transfon Security

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

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

Frequently asked questions

What is SyntheticBot?

SyntheticBot is a bot in the monitoring and analytics bots category, operated by DataDog. Datadog Synthetics gives you a new layer of visibility on the Datadog platform. By monitoring your applications and API endpoints via simulated user requests and browser rendering.

Does SyntheticBot respect robots.txt?

We have not confirmed whether SyntheticBot 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 SyntheticBot?

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

Is robots.txt enough to block SyntheticBot?

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

Should I block SyntheticBot?

Monitoring bots check uptime, performance and page changes on behalf of a site owner or a third party. Allow the services you run yourself and exclude them from analytics so they do not inflate page views.

Related bots

All monitoring and analytics 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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