What is Zoombot?

Zoombot is a bot in the SEO crawlers category, operated by SEOZoom s.r.l..

Bot name
Zoombot
Operator
SEOZoom s.r.l.
Category
SEO Crawlers
Type
Bot
Respects robots.txt
Not confirmed
robots.txt user agent
ZoomBot
Signs requests (Web Bot Auth)
No

About Zoombot

ZoomBot is SEOZoom's web crawler that builds

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.

Zoombot user agent

Sample user agent strings sent by Zoombot:

  • ZoomBot (iCrawl SEO Spider https://suite.seozoom.it/bot.html)
  • ZoomBot (Linkbot 1.0 http://suite.seozoom.it/bot.html)

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 Zoombot in robots.txt

We have not confirmed whether Zoombot 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 Zoombot from the whole site

User-agent: ZoomBot
Disallow: /

Block Zoombot from some folders

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

Allow Zoombot only on some folders

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

Allow Zoombot and block other crawlers

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

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

Who should care about Zoombot

Publishers

Zoombot 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 Zoombot's visits out of campaign data.

Transfon Security for advertisers

E-commerce

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

Transfon Security for SaaS and APIs

Block Zoombot with Transfon Security

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

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Zoombot?

Zoombot is a bot in the SEO crawlers category, operated by SEOZoom s.r.l.. ZoomBot is SEOZoom's web crawler that builds

Does Zoombot respect robots.txt?

We have not confirmed whether Zoombot 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 Zoombot?

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

Is robots.txt enough to block Zoombot?

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

Should I block Zoombot?

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.

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