140M Sites Block These SEO Bots: Impact & Risks
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Ahrefs' recent data reveals that approximately 140 million websites actively block specific SEO bots. This practice significantly impacts the ability of these tools to accurately index backlinks. The primary consequence of blocking these bots is a diminished link index for the affected SEO tools. Since these bots are crucial for crawling web pages and identifying backlinks, their blockage prevents the tools from verifying and recording links from the blocked websites. This, in turn, directly affects the accuracy of link analysis and related data provided by these SEO platforms. The article emphasizes that while blocking these bots affects the link index, it doesn't impact other metrics such as traffic estimates, keyword rankings, or top page reports. These metrics rely on different data collection methods and are not directly dependent on the bot's ability to crawl blocked pages. The implications for website owners who block these bots are that they may experience less accurate data in their SEO tool reports, potentially leading to misinformed decisions regarding link-building strategies and content optimization. Conversely, SEO tools themselves must adapt to overcome such widespread blocking, employing alternative methods to gather comprehensive data and maintain accuracy. The lack of complete link data due to blocking can create an incomplete picture of the website's backlink profile, potentially hindering effective SEO analysis and strategy development. The article highlights the tension between website owners seeking to control their data and the SEO industry's reliance on comprehensive data for accurate reporting and analysis. The scale of the issue – 140 million websites – underscores the significant challenge posed by widespread bot blocking for SEO tools and the broader SEO landscape. This situation likely necessitates continuous innovation in data collection methodologies for SEO tools to overcome the limitations imposed by increasing bot blocking.
(Source: https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-bot-block-rates/)
