Google Clarifies Googlebot-News Crawler Impact
Google has updated its Googlebot-News crawler documentation to address a previous inaccuracy. The update clarifies which Google News surfaces are affected by publisher crawling preferences.
Key Change: News Tab Exclusion
Previously, the documentation mistakenly implied that publisher preferences for Googlebot-News influenced content displayed in the Google News tab within general search results. This is not the case. Google confirmed the error and corrected the documentation.
The corrected documentation now clearly states that Googlebot-News crawling preferences only impact the following:
- news.google.com
- The Google News app
The News tab in standard Google Search results remains unaffected by these crawler preferences.
What This Means for Publishers
Publishers should note that configuring crawl preferences for Googlebot-News will not impact their visibility in the News tab of general search results. These preferences specifically control how Google News indexes content for its dedicated news platforms.
Official Documentation
For the most up-to-date information, refer to the official Googlebot-News documentation:
