What is YandexSpravBot?

YandexSpravBot is a specialized web crawler operated by Yandex, Russia's leading search engine company. It functions as a dedicated bot designed to collect and index business directory and local service information across the web. The bot has been active since at least 2012 and continues to operate as part of Yandex's web indexing ecosystem. You can learn more about Yandex's crawlers at Yandex and their bot documentation.

As a specialized crawler, YandexSpravBot identifies itself through the user agent string: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YandexSpravBot/1.0; +http://yandex.com/bots). This identification allows website administrators to recognize and manage its access through standard protocols. Unlike Yandex's general-purpose crawler (YandexBot), YandexSpravBot has maintained a consistent version (1.0), suggesting a more focused and stable operational scope. It adheres to standard crawling protocols, including respecting robots.txt directives and rate limiting settings.

Why is YandexSpravBot crawling my site?

YandexSpravBot is likely visiting your site to collect information about business listings, local services, or directory-type content. The name "Sprav" derives from the Russian word "справочник" (spravochnik), meaning "directory" or "reference," which reflects its primary purpose.

This bot specifically targets:

Business names, addresses, and contact information
Service categories and operating hours
User reviews and ratings
Local business data and structured information

The frequency of visits typically ranges from weekly to monthly, depending on your site's relevance to its objectives and how often your content changes. Sites with business listings, local service information, or structured data that would be valuable for Yandex's directory services will see more frequent visits. If your website contains this type of information, especially if it caters to Russian-speaking audiences, YandexSpravBot's crawling is a normal, authorized behavior.

What is the purpose of YandexSpravBot?

YandexSpravBot serves to enhance Yandex's local search and directory services by collecting specialized business and service information. The data it gathers likely feeds into Yandex Maps and Yandex Business services, improving the accuracy and comprehensiveness of local search results for Yandex users.

Unlike general search crawlers that index all types of content, YandexSpravBot focuses on structured business data that helps users find local services, stores, and enterprises. This specialization allows Yandex to provide more relevant results for location-based queries and maintain competitive directory services comparable to Google My Business.

For website owners, particularly those targeting Russian-speaking markets, YandexSpravBot's crawling can increase visibility in Yandex's local search results and directory listings. This can drive targeted traffic from users specifically looking for the services or businesses you feature on your site.

How do I block YandexSpravBot?

While allowing YandexSpravBot to crawl your site can improve visibility in Yandex's directory services, you may wish to control its access for various reasons such as reducing server load or protecting sensitive content. YandexSpravBot respects standard robots.txt directives, making this the simplest method to manage its crawling behavior.

To completely block YandexSpravBot from your entire site, add the following to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: YandexSpravBot
Disallow: /

If you want to block access to specific sections while allowing it to crawl other parts of your site, you can use more selective directives:

User-agent: YandexSpravBot
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /private/
Allow: /

Keep in mind that blocking YandexSpravBot may reduce your visibility in Yandex's local search and directory services, which could impact traffic from Russian-speaking audiences. If you're targeting these markets, consider allowing access to your business information while restricting only sensitive areas of your site.

For more granular control, you can also use the Yandex Webmaster Tools to customize crawling settings, including crawl rate limits that help manage server load without completely blocking the bot.

YandexSpravBot