YaDirectFetcher

What is YaDirectFetcher?

YaDirectFetcher is a web crawler operated by Yandex, a major Russian technology company that provides various internet-related services including search, advertising, and analytics. The bot was first deployed around December 2021 and is classified as a specialized web crawler. It's designed to fetch and analyze web content specifically for Yandex's advertising platform, Yandex.Direct.

The crawler identifies itself in server logs with the user agent string Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YaDirectFetcher/1.0; +http://yandex.com/bots) or sometimes with the extended version that includes Chrome details Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YaDirectFetcher/1.0; +http://yandex.com/bots) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/108.0.0.0. This user agent string contains a link to Yandex's documentation about their bots, where website administrators can find more information about how Yandex bots interact with websites.

YaDirectFetcher operates by crawling web pages to collect information that's relevant for advertising purposes. It analyzes content, verifies landing pages for ads, and ensures that advertised content matches what users will actually see when they click on ads in the Yandex ecosystem.

Why is YaDirectFetcher crawling my site?

If YaDirectFetcher is visiting your website, it's most likely because your site or specific pages are being used as landing pages for advertisements on Yandex's advertising network. The bot visits these pages to verify content, check for compliance with advertising policies, and ensure the pages are functioning properly.

The frequency of visits depends on how actively your pages are being used in advertising campaigns on Yandex's platforms. Sites that are heavily featured in Yandex.Direct ads will see more frequent visits from this crawler. The bot may also crawl your site if you're using Yandex's advertising services to promote your own content.

This is generally authorized crawling as it's part of Yandex's advertising service operations. The bot helps maintain the quality and relevance of advertisements shown on Yandex's network.

What is the purpose of YaDirectFetcher?

YaDirectFetcher supports Yandex's advertising platform by validating and analyzing landing pages used in ad campaigns. Its primary functions include:

1. Verifying that landing pages exist and are accessible
2. Checking that landing page content complies with Yandex's advertising policies
3. Analyzing page content to improve ad targeting and relevance
4. Ensuring that what users see after clicking an ad matches what was advertised

For website owners who advertise through Yandex or who have their content featured in Yandex ads, this bot provides value by helping ensure their ads are properly displayed and targeted to relevant audiences. The bot helps maintain the quality of Yandex's advertising ecosystem, which benefits both advertisers and users.

How do I block YaDirectFetcher?

If you wish to control YaDirectFetcher's access to your site, you can use the standard robots.txt protocol. YaDirectFetcher generally respects robots.txt directives. To block this bot specifically, add the following to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: YaDirectFetcher
Disallow: /

This will instruct YaDirectFetcher not to crawl any part of your website. If you only want to block access to certain directories or pages, you can specify those instead of using the global disallow:

User-agent: YaDirectFetcher
Disallow: /private-directory/
Disallow: /confidential-page.html

Keep in mind that blocking YaDirectFetcher might have consequences if your site is being used for advertising on Yandex platforms. Blocking the bot could potentially affect how your ads or content appears in Yandex's advertising network, as the system won't be able to verify or analyze the landing pages. This might lead to reduced ad performance or even disapproval of ads that point to your site.

If you're actively using Yandex's advertising services, it's generally recommended to allow YaDirectFetcher access to the pages you're using in your ad campaigns, while still being able to restrict it from other sensitive areas of your site if needed.