01 · Operator
Who operates YaDirectFetcher
- Company
- Yandex
- Type
- Other bot
- Official docs
- yandex.com
02 · Behavior
What YaDirectFetcher does
YaDirectFetcher downloads the target pages of ads to check availability and topic. Yandex needs this for ad placement in search results and on partner sites. Yandex states it does not use robots.txt and ignores directives set for it.
03 · Impact
Why YaDirectFetcher matters for your site
If you allow it
- Needed if you run Yandex Direct ads
- It is a verified Yandex robot
If you block it
- It ignores robots.txt
- No benefit if you do not advertise on Yandex
04 · Allow
How to allow YaDirectFetcher
robots.txt
User-agent: YaDirectFetcher
Allow: /
Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "YaDirectFetcher")
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: YaDirectFetcher
Allow: /
nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "YaDirectFetcher") { return 403; }
Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} YaDirectFetcher [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
05 · Block
How to block YaDirectFetcher
YaDirectFetcher has been reported to ignore robots.txt. Block it at your CDN or web server as well.
robots.txt
# YaDirectFetcher has been reported to ignore robots.txt.
# Add a Cloudflare, nginx or Apache rule as well.
User-agent: YaDirectFetcher
Disallow: /
Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "YaDirectFetcher")
Action: Block
WordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: YaDirectFetcher
Disallow: /
nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "YaDirectFetcher") {
return 403;
}
Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} YaDirectFetcher [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>
06 · User agents
User agents we see for YaDirectFetcher
| User agent | Share | Last seen | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YaDirectFetcher/1.0; +http://yandex.com/bots) |
95% | Verified | |
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YaDirectFetcher/1.0; +http://yandex.com/bots) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, li… |
4.8% | Verified |
07 · Verification
Is it really YaDirectFetcher?
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.
IP addresses we saw from verified YaDirectFetcher requests
| IP range | Share | Last seen |
|---|---|---|
95.108.213.139 |
4.8% | |
87.250.224.236 |
4.8% | |
95.108.213.163 |
4.8% | |
5.255.231.6 |
4.8% | |
213.180.203.239 |
4.8% | |
5.255.231.185 |
4.8% | |
87.250.224.220 |
4.8% | |
95.108.213.83 |
4.8% | |
213.180.203.95 |
4.8% | |
87.250.224.111 |
4.8% |
Top 10 of 21 ranges. Always check against the operator’s current list; ranges change.
FAQ
Questions about YaDirectFetcher
What does YaDirectFetcher do?
It downloads target pages of Yandex ads to check their availability and topic. This supports ad placement in Yandex search and on partner sites.
Does YaDirectFetcher respect robots.txt?
No. Yandex states that this robot does not use robots.txt and ignores directives set for it.
How do I verify YaDirectFetcher?
Run a reverse DNS lookup on the IP. Genuine Yandex robots resolve to hostnames ending in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com.
Last reviewed Oct 8, 2026