01 · Operator
Who operates YandexDirect
- Company
- Yandex
- Type
- Other bot
- Official docs
- yandex.com
02 · Behavior
What YandexDirect does
YandexDirect reads pages of Yandex Advertising Network partner sites to determine their topics. Yandex uses this to match relevant ads. It does not follow robots.txt.
03 · Impact
Why YandexDirect matters for your site
If you allow it
- Needed for relevant Yandex ads on partner sites
If you block it
- Ignores robots.txt
- No benefit if you do not show Yandex ads
04 · Allow
How to allow YandexDirect
robots.txt
User-agent: YandexDirect
Allow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "YandexDirect")
Action: Skip › All Super Bot Fight Mode rules
# Also check Security › Bots: "Block AI bots" can block it regardless of robots.txt.WordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: YandexDirect
Allow: /nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "YandexDirect") { return 403; }Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} YandexDirect [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]05 · Block
How to block YandexDirect
YandexDirect has been reported to ignore robots.txt. Block it at your CDN or web server as well.
robots.txt
# YandexDirect has been reported to ignore robots.txt.
# Add a Cloudflare, nginx or Apache rule as well.
User-agent: YandexDirect
Disallow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "YandexDirect")
Action: BlockWordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: YandexDirect
Disallow: /nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "YandexDirect") {
return 403;
}Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} YandexDirect [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>06 · User agents
User agents we see for YandexDirect
The user agent published by the operator:
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YandexDirect/3.0; +http://yandex.com/bots)07 · Verification
Is it really YandexDirect?
Anyone can copy a user agent. A reverse DNS lookup of a real request resolves to yandex.ru</code>, <code>yandex.net</code>, <code>yandex.com, and that hostname resolves back to the same IP.
FAQ
Questions about YandexDirect
Does YandexDirect respect robots.txt?
No. Yandex documents that YandexDirect does not follow robots.txt rules.
How do I block YandexDirect?
Because it ignores robots.txt, you must block it by user agent on your server or firewall.
How can I verify that YandexDirect is really from Yandex?
Run a reverse DNS lookup on the IP. The hostname must end in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com, and a forward lookup must return the same IP.
Last reviewed Oct 8, 2026