Bot signals · Web crawler
What is AmazonAdBot?
Amazon AmazonAdBot
AmazonAdBot is Amazon’s advertising crawler. It scans pages that request ads from Amazon’s advertising systems and classifies their content, to keep a brand-safe environment for advertisers and show more relevant ads.
01 · Profile
AmazonAdBot at a glance.
What to look for in your logs, and what the lookup API returns for its addresses.
- Type
- Web crawler
- User agent
AmazonAdBot- robots.txt
User-agent: AmazonAdBot- API flag
risk.is_crawler
A user agent alone never sets a flag. Anyone can claim to be AmazonAdBot; the flag follows the address the request comes from.
02 · In the response
What a match looks like.
A lookup of a AmazonAdBot address sets risk.is_crawler. The flags come with geolocation and network data in the same response, for API keys on every paid plan.
The response says which kind of bot an address belongs to, not which operator. A request that claims to be AmazonAdBot while risk.is_crawler is false should not be trusted as AmazonAdBot.
{
// … location and network fields …
"risk": {
"is_ai": false,
"is_crawler": true,
"is_scanner": false
}
}
03 · Control
Allow or block AmazonAdBot.
User-agent: AmazonAdBot Disallow: /
To enforce it
- robots.txt is a request. Well-behaved bots follow it; impostors using its name don’t.
- Firewall, WAF or CDN. Many offer bot rules you can allow or deny by category. Use them to enforce what robots.txt only asks for.
- In your app. Look up the client address and allow or deny on
risk.is_crawler, alongside the user agent. - Never on the user agent alone. Blocking the name stops only honest clients; allowing it lets anyone in who borrows it.
04 · Questions
About AmazonAdBot.
What is AmazonAdBot?
AmazonAdBot is Amazon’s advertising crawler. It scans pages that request ads from Amazon’s advertising systems and classifies their content, to keep a brand-safe environment for advertisers and show more relevant ads.
How do I block AmazonAdBot?
Add a robots.txt rule for AmazonAdBot. AmazonAdBot honours the standard robots.txt directives, including Disallow, Allow and Crawl-delay. Amazon notes that leaving them out allows for optimal ad performance. To enforce a block rather than request one, deny it at your firewall, WAF or CDN.
Can I trust a request that says it is AmazonAdBot?
Not on the user agent alone: any client can send “AmazonAdBot” in its user agent. A user agent alone never sets a flag. Check the address with the free bot checker or the lookup API.
Which risk flag does AmazonAdBot set?
Its addresses set risk.is_crawler in the lookup response. The risk flags come with every paid plan.
Related bots
Recognise AmazonAdBot on every request.
is_ai, is_crawler and is_scanner in every lookup, on every paid plan, from 9,00 € a month (VAT included).