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Meta tags

googlebot

Applies indexing and search presentation rules specifically to Google. Use robots metadata when the same rule should apply to every search engine.

Parameters

noindex
Prevents the page from appearing in Google Search results.
<meta name="googlebot" content="noindex">
nofollow
Tells Google not to follow links on the page.
<meta name="googlebot" content="nofollow">
none
Equivalent to noindex, nofollow.
<meta name="googlebot" content="none">
nosnippet
Prevents a text snippet or video preview in Google Search results.
<meta name="googlebot" content="nosnippet">
max-snippet:-1
Lets Google choose the text snippet length.
<meta name="googlebot" content="max-snippet:-1">
max-video-preview:-1
Allows a video preview of any length.
<meta name="googlebot" content="max-video-preview:-1">
max-image-preview:large
Allows an image preview as wide as the result viewport.
<meta name="googlebot" content="max-image-preview:large">
notranslate
Prevents Google from offering a translated result for the page.
<meta name="googlebot" content="notranslate">
export type Googlebot =
     /**
   * Prevents the page from appearing in Google Search results.
  **/
    'noindex'
    /**
   * Tells Google not to follow links on the page.
  **/
    'nofollow'
    /**
   * Equivalent to noindex, nofollow.
  **/
    'none'
    /**
   * Prevents a text snippet or video preview in Google Search results.
  **/
    'nosnippet'
    /**
   * Lets Google choose the text snippet length.
  **/
    'max-snippet:-1'
    /**
   * Allows a video preview of any length.
  **/
    'max-video-preview:-1'
    /**
   * Allows an image preview as wide as the result viewport.
  **/
    'max-image-preview:large'
    /**
   * Prevents Google from offering a translated result for the page.
  **/
    'notranslate'

Code examples

Good example
<meta name="googlebot" content="noindex">
Prevents this page from appearing in Google Search while leaving rules for other search engines unchanged.
Good example
<meta name="googlebot" content="max-snippet:120, max-image-preview:large">
Limits the text snippet to 120 characters and allows a large image preview.
Avoid this example
<meta name="googlebot" content="index, follow">
These are Google’s defaults, so writing them adds no restriction.
Avoid this example
<meta name="googlebot" content="crawl-delay: 10">
Google does not support crawl-delay in a meta tag or robots.txt.

Recommendations

  • 01
    Target Only Google When Needed
    Use googlebot for a Google-specific rule. A robots tag is clearer when all compliant search engines should receive the rule.
  • 02
    Do Not Block the Tag from Crawlers
    Google must crawl the page to read a noindex rule. Blocking the URL in robots.txt can leave the URL eligible to appear without a snippet.

Related documentation

Related meta tags

author

name

Names one author of the page. Add another author meta tag for each additional author.

<meta name="author" content="Jane Doe">
Names the author exactly as credited on the page.

charset

charset

Declares the character encoding used by the HTML document. In modern HTML, the value must be UTF-8.

<meta charset="utf-8">
The required character encoding for modern HTML.

description

name

Summarizes the page for directories and search engines. Google may use it as a search result snippet when it describes the page better than the visible content does.

<meta name="description" content="Bake 12 vanilla cupcakes in 35 minutes. Includes metric measurements, storage notes, and fixes for cakes that sink.">
Specific details tell the reader what the recipe covers.

google

name

Carries Google-specific page controls. Google currently documents nopagereadaloud for this metadata name.

<meta name="google" content="nopagereadaloud">
The documented Google-specific opt-out for page read-aloud services.

google-site-verification

name

Verifies ownership of a site in Google Search Console. Google provides the exact token to place on the site’s top-level page.

<meta name="google-site-verification" content="your_verification_code">
Replace this placeholder with the exact token issued by Search Console.