What is YahooJapanSEOCrawler?

YahooJapanSEOCrawler is a bot in the SEO crawlers category, operated by Yahoo.

Bot name
YahooJapanSEOCrawler
Operator
Yahoo
Category
SEO Crawlers
Type
Bot
Respects robots.txt
Not confirmed
robots.txt user agent
J-BRW
Signs requests (Web Bot Auth)
No

About YahooJapanSEOCrawler

Yahoo Japan search engine crawler for SEO analysis

SEO crawlers map links, keywords and technical issues for SEO tools and backlink databases. They help the tool's customers, often your competitors, rather than you. Rate limit or block the ones you do not use.

YahooJapanSEOCrawler user agent

YahooJapanSEOCrawler identifies itself with this user agent string:

  • Y!J-BRW/1.0 (https://support.yahoo-net.jp/PccSearch/s/article/H000007955)

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 YahooJapanSEOCrawler in robots.txt

We have not confirmed whether YahooJapanSEOCrawler 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 YahooJapanSEOCrawler from the whole site

User-agent: J-BRW
Disallow: /

Block YahooJapanSEOCrawler from some folders

User-agent: J-BRW
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /search

Allow YahooJapanSEOCrawler only on some folders

User-agent: J-BRW
Allow: /blog/
Disallow: /

Allow YahooJapanSEOCrawler and block other crawlers

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

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

Who should care about YahooJapanSEOCrawler

Publishers

YahooJapanSEOCrawler works for an SEO tool's customers, often your competitors. It adds server load without readers, so rate limit or block it unless you use the tool.

Transfon Security for publishers

Media buyers and advertisers

SEO crawlers map landing pages and links for competitor research. Keep YahooJapanSEOCrawler's visits out of campaign data.

Transfon Security for advertisers

E-commerce

YahooJapanSEOCrawler can map your catalogue, prices and site structure for competitors. Block it unless you use the tool yourself.

Transfon Security for e-commerce

SaaS and APIs

Allow YahooJapanSEOCrawler only if your team uses the tool; otherwise rate limit it on docs and marketing pages.

Transfon Security for SaaS and APIs

Block YahooJapanSEOCrawler with Transfon Security

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

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

Frequently asked questions

What is YahooJapanSEOCrawler?

YahooJapanSEOCrawler is a bot in the SEO crawlers category, operated by Yahoo. Yahoo Japan search engine crawler for SEO analysis

Does YahooJapanSEOCrawler respect robots.txt?

We have not confirmed whether YahooJapanSEOCrawler 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 YahooJapanSEOCrawler?

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

Is robots.txt enough to block YahooJapanSEOCrawler?

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

Should I block YahooJapanSEOCrawler?

SEO crawlers map links, keywords and technical issues for SEO tools and backlink databases. They help the tool's customers, often your competitors, rather than you. Rate limit or block the ones you do not use.

Related bots

All SEO crawlers · 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.

Stay ahead of the publishing curve

Privacy, security, monetization, and performance insights. A few emails a month, no spam.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy.