meta-webindexer: share of top websites blocking it

On 26 October 2026, 6.3% of the readable top 10k websites fully blocked meta-webindexer in robots.txt (bounds 5.0% to 25.2% over all 8,220 websites, 1,659 of them unreadable); 3.8% blocked it partly and 2.6% named it.

Last verified 2026-10-26 21:13 UTC (daily run of 2026-10-26). Proof for that day.

Operator
Meta
What it is
AI Assistants
Description
As per their documentation, "The Meta-WebIndexer crawler navigates the web to improve Meta AI search result quality for users. In doing so, Meta analyzes online content to enhance the relevance and accuracy of Meta AI. Allowing Meta-WebIndexer in your robots.txt file helps us cite and link to your content in Meta AI's responses."
robots.txt token
User-agent: meta-webindexer
Listed since
2026-10-26 (in this ledger's registry)

Fully blocks

6.3%

413 sites; bounds 5.0% to 25.2%

Partly blocks

3.8%

249 sites

Name it explicitly

2.6%

173 sites; unreadable: 3,439

Over time

Share of panel sites blocking meta-webindexer4 lines, 2016-09-05 to 2026-10-26; values between 2.39 and 6.29 %; latest 6.29 %.2.083.214.345.486.61Sep 2016Mar 2019Sep 2021Apr 2024Oct 2026blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2016-09-05 UTC: 3.14 %blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2017-09-25 UTC: 3.51 %blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2018-09-24 UTC: 3.61 %blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2019-09-23 UTC: 2.80 %blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2020-09-28 UTC: 2.52 %blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2021-09-27 UTC: 2.61 %blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2022-10-03 UTC: 2.55 %blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2024-09-16 UTC: 2.39 %blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2026-09-21 UTC: 4.01 %partly blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2016-09-05 UTC: 5.04 %partly blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2017-09-25 UTC: 4.91 %partly blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2018-09-24 UTC: 4.82 %partly blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2019-09-23 UTC: 4.76 %partly blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2020-09-28 UTC: 4.82 %partly blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2021-09-27 UTC: 4.98 %partly blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2022-10-03 UTC: 4.91 %partly blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2024-09-16 UTC: 5.10 %partly blocks, reconstructed (Common Crawl): 2026-09-21 UTC: 5.44 %blocks, daily observation: 2026-10-26 UTC: 6.29 %partly blocks, daily observation: 2026-10-26 UTC: 3.80 %

"Partly blocks" counts every robots.txt whose rules for meta-webindexer disallow some paths, including generic rules for all crawlers (for example /search); it is not a measure of targeted AI policy. Shares are of the readable websites (W − U: 8,220 websites, 1,659 unreadable); the bounds assume none / all of the unreadable sites block. Solid: daily first-party observations (top 10k of the Tranco list W3ZV9, one fixed cohort). Dashed: reconstructed from Common Crawl (top 10k, sites readable in every crawl), a separate series.

Reconstructed values per crawl
CrawlDateBlocksSites read
CC-MAIN-2016-362016-09-053.1%3,216
CC-MAIN-2017-392017-09-253.5%3,216
CC-MAIN-2018-392018-09-243.6%3,216
CC-MAIN-2019-392019-09-232.8%3,216
CC-MAIN-2020-402020-09-282.5%3,216
CC-MAIN-2021-392021-09-272.6%3,216
CC-MAIN-2022-402022-10-032.5%3,216
CC-MAIN-2024-382024-09-162.4%3,216
CC-MAIN-2026-392026-09-214.0%3,216

Recent blockers

Sites that started fully blocking meta-webindexer since 2026-07-28, highest-ranked first.

DateSiteWhat changed
franceinfo.frnow blocks meta-webindexer (was allow)
mainichi.jpnow blocks meta-webindexer (was allow)
mercurynews.comnow blocks meta-webindexer (was allow)
francetvinfo.frnow blocks meta-webindexer (was allow)
denverpost.comnow blocks meta-webindexer (was allow)
is.finow blocks meta-webindexer (was allow)

Recent unblockers

DateSiteWhat changed
No changes recorded yet. The first daily run is the baseline; changes appear from the second day on.

Sites blocking meta-webindexer now

facebook.com (*) · fbcdn.net (*) · instagram.com (*) · twitter.com · googlevideo.com (*) · amazon.com · netflix.com (*) · x.com · pinterest.com (*) · baidu.com (*) · amazonvideo.com · reddit.com (*) · skybridge.click (*) · registrar-servers.com (*) · nytimes.com · flickr.com (*) · meraki.com (*) · t.co (*) · linktr.ee (*) · imdb.com (*) · demdex.net (*) · weibo.com (*) · amazon.co.uk · naver.com (*) · netflix.net (*) · nflxvideo.net (*) · wsj.com (*) · amazon.de · cookiedatabase.org (*) · gcdn.co (*) · kwai.net (*) · amazon.co.jp · edgecdn.ru (*) · sohu.com (*) · wired.com · threads.com (*) · netcraze.io (*) · usatoday.com · amazon.fr · amazon.ca · sharethrough.com (*) · primevideo.com · amazon.in · hstgr.net (*) · lemonde.fr · imgsmail.ru (*) · fb.com (*) · hihonorcloud.com (*) · amazon.es · pinimg.com (*) · amazon.it · cnet.com · quantserve.com (*) · creativecdn.com (*) · crwdcntrl.net (*) · amazon.co.za · vkontakte.ru (*) · disneyplus.com (*) · people.com · sentinelone.net (*)

(*) blocked through the * group, not by name. Full list in current.csv.

Cite this

InfraRabbit AI Crawl Ledger, "Share of top websites blocking meta-webindexer", https://infrarabbit.com/crawlers/bot/meta-webindexer, retrieved 2026-10-26. CC BY 4.0.