# Google Read Aloud User Agent | Google Crawling Infrastructure

# Google Read Aloud user agent


[`Google-Read-Aloud`](https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-user-triggered-fetchers#google-read-aloud)
is the user agent for the Google Read Aloud service. This service enables reading web pages using
text-to-speech (TTS). This service is activated when an end user has TTS enabled and visits a
page. The Read Aloud service is used by
[Google Go](https://www.blog.google/technology/next-billion-users/make-google-read-it/),
[Google Read it](https://developers.google.com/assistant/app/read-it),
[Read Aloud on the Google app](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/10078840), and other Google text-to-speech services.

## Crawl frequency and behavior


Google Read Aloud is triggered by a user request. Google Read Aloud conserves bandwidth by
caching page results, but you may still see multiple requests for a given page.


Google Read Aloud is not a web crawler: it is activated upon user request, and it doesn't follow
links. Google Read Aloud uses stateless rendering to view the page like a user would.
In particular, it doesn't use the user's cookies.
A user request for listening to a web page may or may not result in page visits, depending
on whether the page has been fetched recently.

## Reduce Google Read Aloud requests


Since Google Read Aloud is initiated by a user, not a result of automated web crawl, you can't opt
out by using a robots.txt file. To opt out of Google Read Aloud functionality, use the
`nopagereadaloud` `meta` tag:

```
<meta name="google" content="nopagereadaloud">
```


In order to recognize meta tags on a page, Google Read Aloud may proactively access and render
the page with its embedded resources. Once the meta tag has been recognized on a page, the
number of future requests will be reduced automatically.


To prevent paywalled content from being read aloud, use
[structured data for subscription and paywalled content](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/paywalled-content).
Make sure the `isAccessibleForFree` property is set to `False`.

## What is the `google-speakr` agent?


The `google-speakr` agent is an older, deprecated version of the user agent. The user
agent's current name is `Google-Read-Aloud`.