Overview
FeedFetcher-Google is a feed fetcher from Google used for RSS or Atom feed polling, syndication refresh, subscription delivery, and content update checks.
Its primary user-agent pattern is FeedFetcher-Google; related patterns include Google feed fetcher; a representative HTTP user-agent is FeedFetcher-Google; (+http://www.google.com/feedfetcher.html).
FeedFetcher-Google is verified with High confidence. The identity type is Official Documented, and the evidence basis is official operator documentation.
FeedFetcher-Google is marked as not reliably governed by robots.txt directives; use server-side rules if the traffic should be restricted.
FeedFetcher-Google can usually be allowed after confirming the source and monitoring request volume.
Identity
- User-Agent Pattern
-
FeedFetcher-Google - Aliases
- Google feed fetcher
- HTTP Agent Examples
-
FeedFetcher-Google; (+http://www.google.com/feedfetcher.html) - Robots Token
- FeedFetcher-Google
- Identity Type
- Officially documented
- Evidence Method
- Verify FeedFetcher-Google by matching `FeedFetcher-Google` to Google evidence, then checking reverse DNS, source-network ownership, signed request data, or published crawler documentation when available.
Classification
- Type
- Feed
- Kind
- Fetcher
- Family
- Purpose
- Feed fetch
Behavior and handling
- Common Use
- FeedFetcher-Google is used for RSS or Atom feed polling, syndication refresh, subscription delivery, and content update checks.
- Detection Notes
- FeedFetcher-Google traffic is primarily detected by the `FeedFetcher-Google` user-agent pattern; related patterns include `Google feed fetcher`; a representative HTTP user-agent is `FeedFetcher-Google; (+http://www.google.com/feedfetcher.html)`. Compare source IPs, reverse DNS, request paths, and crawl cadence with Google infrastructure before trusting the traffic.
- Respects robots.txt
- No
- Spoofing Risk
- FeedFetcher-Google has medium spoofing risk because the user-agent can be copied, even when the bot has strong source or documentation support.
- Risk
- Safe
- Recommended Handling
- Depends
Rules and controls
- Robots.txt Snippet
-
# This agent may ignore robots.txt. Use authenticated access controls or network policy when blocking is required.
Relationships
- Operator
- Google Checked 2026-08-07
Relationships without an Evidence link are normalized from the canonical directory record. They should not be interpreted as independent proof of physical presence or request origin.