Bot signals · Web crawler
What is ImpactCINDAgent?
impact.com ImpactCINDAgent
ImpactCINDAgent is a web crawler operated by impact.com. It checks that pages on partner and brand sites use impact.com tracking correctly and comply with brand agreements, extracts non-personal metadata for partner reporting, and crawls more widely to discover content that promotes impact.com-enrolled brands. It uses a real headless browser and does not submit forms.
01 · Profile
ImpactCINDAgent at a glance.
What to look for in your logs, and what the lookup API returns for its addresses.
- Type
- Web crawler
- User agent
ImpactCINDAgent- robots.txt
User-agent: ImpactCINDAgent- API flag
risk.is_crawler
A user agent alone never sets a flag. Anyone can claim to be ImpactCINDAgent; the flag follows the address the request comes from.
02 · In the response
What a match looks like.
A lookup of a ImpactCINDAgent 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 ImpactCINDAgent while risk.is_crawler is false should not be trusted as ImpactCINDAgent.
{
// … location and network fields …
"risk": {
"is_ai": false,
"is_crawler": true,
"is_scanner": false
}
}
03 · Control
Allow or block ImpactCINDAgent.
User-agent: ImpactCINDAgent 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 ImpactCINDAgent.
What is ImpactCINDAgent?
ImpactCINDAgent is a web crawler operated by impact.com. It checks that pages on partner and brand sites use impact.com tracking correctly and comply with brand agreements, extracts non-personal metadata for partner reporting, and crawls more widely to discover content that promotes impact.com-enrolled brands. It uses a real headless browser and does not submit forms.
How do I block ImpactCINDAgent?
Add a robots.txt rule for ImpactCINDAgent. ImpactCINDAgent respects robots.txt rules addressed to ImpactCINDAgent or to *, including Crawl-delay, and slows down when a server answers 429 or 503. impact.com suggests a Crawl-delay rather than a full block for sites in its programs, since blocking can affect a program’s standing. 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 ImpactCINDAgent?
Not on the user agent alone: any client can send “ImpactCINDAgent” 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 ImpactCINDAgent set?
Its addresses set risk.is_crawler in the lookup response. The risk flags come with every paid plan.
From the blog
Go deeper.
Related bots
Recognise ImpactCINDAgent on every request.
is_ai, is_crawler and is_scanner in every lookup, on every paid plan, from 9,00 € a month (VAT included).