Google's New Search Snippets Blocked By Robots.txt Warning

Aug 16, 2012 - 8:23 am 35 by

A description for this result is not available because of this site's robots.txt

Google is showing a more descriptive search snippet for when it cannot show any search snippet in the search results.

If a page is being blocked by the robots.txt file, Google won't show the search snippet (description) in the search results. Google may show the page in the search results because of the linkage data it has. The example in the picture above is the only URL I have blocked from Google indexing it. I regret writing it, but also would regret removing it, so I blocked it from Google.

If you try to match on it within Google, it turns the notification:

A description for this result is not available because of this site's robots.txt – learn more.

The learn more link goes to the page named Block or remove pages using a robots.txt file in Google's help section.

I think this provides a much better search experience for someone who sees these blocked pages.

I do wonder if they show up for non site: command searches, I'd assume so.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: December 10, 2024

Dec 10, 2024 - 10:00 am
Google

Google Crawler Documention Adds HTTP Caching

Dec 10, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Sometimes Over Optimization Drift Towards SEO Spam

Dec 10, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Search Console Insights Removes Google Analytics Data

Dec 10, 2024 - 7:33 am
Bing SEO

Copilot Beta Now Bing Webmaster Tools For 10,000 Users

Dec 10, 2024 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Tests Trending & Popular With Labels In Search Results

Dec 10, 2024 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Email Delivery Bug With Google Webmaster Tools Messages