EtaoSpider

What is EtaoSpider?

EtaoSpider is an uncategorized web crawler with limited public documentation. It appears to be associated with eTao, a Chinese shopping search engine and price comparison platform previously operated by Alibaba Group, though this connection isn't officially confirmed.

The crawler identifies itself with the simple user agent string EtaoSpider without providing additional metadata like version numbers or contact information that more transparent crawlers typically include. This minimalist approach makes it difficult to determine when EtaoSpider was first deployed or verify its exact operational parameters.

Unlike well-documented crawlers such as Googlebot, EtaoSpider doesn't follow standard transparency practices of providing detailed versioning or operational URLs in its user agent string, which raises questions about its specific objectives.

Why is EtaoSpider crawling my site?

EtaoSpider likely crawls websites to gather product information, pricing data, and commercial content for comparison shopping services. If your site contains e-commerce products, pricing information, or product reviews, you may see increased activity from this crawler. The frequency of visits depends on your site's relevance to its data collection purposes and how often your content changes. Sites with frequently updated product information may experience more regular crawling. EtaoSpider appears to be particularly interested in commercial content, especially from sites operating in or serving Asian markets. Without official documentation, it's difficult to determine whether all of its crawling activities are authorized or if they adhere to standard crawler ethics.

What is the purpose of EtaoSpider?

EtaoSpider most likely supports price comparison and shopping aggregation services, collecting product information, pricing, and availability data across multiple e-commerce sites. This data presumably helps power search results for eTao's shopping comparison platform, allowing users to compare products and prices across different online retailers.

For website owners, especially those operating e-commerce sites, this crawling could potentially increase product visibility in Chinese shopping search results. However, the lack of transparency about how the collected data is used raises legitimate concerns about competitive intelligence gathering and potential server resource consumption. Without clear documentation about data usage policies, website owners should carefully consider whether the potential benefits outweigh these concerns.

How do I block EtaoSpider?

The most straightforward approach to control EtaoSpider's access is through your site's robots.txt file. While there's no official confirmation that EtaoSpider respects robots.txt directives, implementing them is still the recommended first step. To block EtaoSpider completely, add these lines to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: EtaoSpider
Disallow: /

If you want to allow access to certain directories while restricting others, you can be more specific with your directives:

User-agent: EtaoSpider
Allow: /public-content/
Disallow: /

If you find that robots.txt directives aren't effective in managing EtaoSpider's behavior, you may need to implement more robust measures. Consider monitoring your server logs to identify the IP addresses associated with EtaoSpider and implement IP-based blocking through your server's configuration files or firewall settings. Some content management systems and security plugins also offer user agent blocking features that can filter out specific crawlers.

Be aware that blocking EtaoSpider might reduce your product visibility in Chinese shopping comparison services if that's relevant to your business. Monitoring your site's performance before and after implementing blocks can help you determine whether EtaoSpider's crawling was significantly impacting your server resources.