Google Webmaster Guidelines Adds Not To Block Google Ads With Robots.txt

Feb 13, 2014 - 8:51 am 13 by

Google Webmaster ToolsA new update has been made to the Google webmaster guidelines document, which describes you should not block the Google ads destination URL with your robots.txt file.

The new text is under the technical guidelines and reads:

Make efforts to ensure that a robots.txt file does not block a destination URL for a Google Ad product. Adding such a block can disable or disadvantage the Ad.

The guideline before somewhat implies the complete opposite:

Make reasonable efforts to ensure that advertisements do not affect search engine rankings. For example, Google's AdSense ads and DoubleClick links are blocked from being crawled by a robots.txt file.

So what do you make of this new change to the Google webmaster guidelines?

This was spotted first by Menashe Avramov.

Forum discussion at Google+.

Update: The following day, Google has removed the language from the guidelines. I guess they decided it was confusing also?

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Ads

Google Ads Posts New Call & Messaging Ads Terms

Jan 22, 2026 - 7:51 am
Apple Intelligence

Apple Releasing Two New Siri; iOS 26.4 & iOS 27 (Campos, Rave & Fizz)

Jan 22, 2026 - 7:41 am
Other Search Engines

OpenAI To Charge Based On Ad View Impressions, Not Clicks

Jan 22, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Search Makes Recipe Results More Publisher Friendly

Jan 22, 2026 - 7:21 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

New GoogleBot: Google Messages

Jan 22, 2026 - 7:11 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: January 21, 2026

Jan 21, 2026 - 10:00 am
 
Previous Story: Google February Update: Possibly A Google Panda Refresh?