peer39_crawler

What is peer39_crawler?

Peer39_crawler is a specialized web crawler operated by Peer39, a company that provides contextual intelligence solutions for digital advertising. The crawler functions as a data collection tool that scans web pages to analyze content for contextual advertising purposes. Peer39 (available at peer39.com) uses this crawler to build and maintain their semantic analysis database, which powers their contextual targeting platform. As a technical classification, it's considered a commercial web crawler that performs content categorization and analysis rather than general indexing like search engines.

When visiting websites, the crawler typically identifies itself with the user-agent string peer39_crawler in server logs. The crawler is designed to analyze page content, context, and semantic meaning rather than just collecting links or scraping visible text. It processes webpage information to understand content categories, sentiment, and other contextual signals that can be valuable for advertisers seeking brand-suitable environments.

Why is peer39_crawler crawling my site?

Peer39_crawler visits websites to analyze and categorize content for contextual advertising purposes. If you're seeing this crawler in your logs, it's likely scanning your pages to understand what type of content you publish and how it fits into various advertising categories. This information helps advertisers determine if your site matches their targeting criteria.

The crawler typically visits sites on a semi-regular basis to keep its content categorization database current. Sites with frequently updated content may see more regular visits. The crawling is typically considered authorized industry practice for ad tech companies, as this data collection enables more relevant advertising, which can potentially increase ad revenue for publishers.

What is the purpose of peer39_crawler?

The primary purpose of peer39_crawler is to support Peer39's contextual intelligence platform for digital advertising. Unlike behavioral targeting that relies on user data, contextual targeting focuses on the content of webpages. Peer39's crawler analyzes web content to categorize it across numerous dimensions including topics, sentiment, page quality, and brand safety parameters.

This data collection enables advertisers to place their ads in contextually relevant and brand-safe environments without relying on personal user data or cookies. For website owners, especially those monetizing through display advertising, this crawling activity can be beneficial as it potentially increases the value of their ad inventory by making it more targetable based on content rather than just user behavior.

The crawler helps Peer39 maintain a comprehensive understanding of the web's content ecosystem, which powers their contextual targeting solutions for advertisers and publishers within the programmatic advertising ecosystem.

How do I block peer39_crawler?

If you wish to control peer39_crawler's access to your site, you can use the standard robots.txt protocol, which this crawler generally respects. To completely block the crawler from accessing your site, add the following directives to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: peer39_crawler
Disallow: /

This instructs the crawler not to access any part of your website. If you only want to block access to specific sections, you can specify particular directories:

User-agent: peer39_crawler
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /members-only/

Keep in mind that blocking Peer39's crawler may have implications for your advertising revenue if you monetize your site through display advertising. Without contextual analysis of your content, some advertisers using Peer39's targeting solutions may be unable to properly categorize your site, potentially reducing relevant ad placements or brand safety assessments.

Before blocking, consider whether the crawler's activities are causing any actual performance issues for your site. In most cases, reputable ad tech crawlers like peer39_crawler are designed to be respectful of server resources and follow established crawling etiquette. If you're experiencing unusual server load that you believe is related to this crawler, you might want to contact Peer39 directly before implementing a complete block.