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Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Locale-adaptive pages change their content to reflect the user's language or perceived geographic
location. Since, by default, Googlebot requests pages without setting an
Accept-Language HTTP request header and uses IP addresses that appear to be located
in the USA, not all content variants of locale-adaptive pages may be indexed completely.
Today we're introducing new
locale-aware crawl configurations
for Googlebot for pages that we detect may adapt the content they serve based on the request's
language and perceived location. These are:
Geo-distributed crawling where Googlebot would start to use IP addresses that
appear to be coming from outside the USA, in addition to the current IP addresses that appear to
be from the USA that Googlebot currently uses.
Language-dependent crawling where Googlebot would start to crawl with an
Accept-Language HTTP header in the request.
As these new crawling configurations are enabled automatically for pages we detect to be
locale-adaptive, you may notice changes in how we crawl and show your site in Google search
results without you altering your CMS or server settings.
Note that these new configurations do not alter our recommendation to use separate URLs with
rel=alternate hreflang annotations
for each locale. We continue to support and recommend using separate URLs as they are still the
best way for users to interact and share your content, and also to maximize indexing and better
ranking of all variants of your content.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGooglebot is introducing new locale-aware crawl configurations, including geo-distributed and language-dependent crawling, to better index locale-adaptive pages.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThese changes will automatically enhance crawling and indexing of locale-adaptive pages, leading to potential changes in Google search results.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhile these updates improve locale-adaptive page handling, using separate URLs with \u003ccode\u003erel=alternate hreflang\u003c/code\u003e annotations remains the best practice for internationalization.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGooglebot's new crawling approach incorporates IP addresses outside the USA and utilizes the \u003ccode\u003eAccept-Language\u003c/code\u003e HTTP header to better understand content variations.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers might observe changes in Googlebot's crawling behavior and their site's appearance in search results without manual adjustments to CMS or server settings.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Googlebot is implementing new crawl configurations for locale-adaptive pages, which modify content based on language or location. These include geo-distributed crawling, utilizing IPs from outside the USA, and language-dependent crawling, using an `Accept-Language` HTTP header. These changes are automatic for detected locale-adaptive pages and may alter how Google crawls and displays the site. Using separate URLs with `rel=alternate hreflang` annotations for each locale remains the best practice.\n"],null,["# Crawling and indexing of locale-adaptive pages\n\nWednesday, January 28, 2015\n| It's been a while since we published this blog post. Some of the information may be outdated (for example, some images may be missing, and some links may not work anymore). Check out our [current documentation on locale-adaptive pages](/search/docs/specialty/international/locale-adaptive-pages).\n\n\nLocale-adaptive pages change their content to reflect the user's language or perceived geographic\nlocation. Since, by default, Googlebot requests pages without setting an\n`Accept-Language` HTTP request header and uses IP addresses that appear to be located\nin the USA, not all content variants of locale-adaptive pages may be indexed completely.\n\n\nToday we're introducing new\n[locale-aware crawl configurations](/search/docs/specialty/international/locale-adaptive-pages)\nfor Googlebot for pages that we detect may adapt the content they serve based on the request's\nlanguage and perceived location. These are:\n\n- **Geo-distributed crawling** where Googlebot would start to use IP addresses that appear to be coming from outside the USA, in addition to the current IP addresses that appear to be from the USA that Googlebot currently uses.\n- **Language-dependent crawling** where Googlebot would start to crawl with an `Accept-Language` HTTP header in the request.\n\n\nAs these new crawling configurations are enabled automatically for pages we detect to be\nlocale-adaptive, you may notice changes in how we crawl and show your site in Google search\nresults without you altering your CMS or server settings.\n\n\nNote that these new configurations do not alter our recommendation to use separate URLs with\n[`rel=alternate hreflang` annotations](/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions)\nfor each locale. We continue to support and recommend using separate URLs as they are still the\nbest way for users to interact and share your content, and also to maximize indexing and better\nranking of all variants of your content.\n\n\nAs always, if you have any questions or feedback, please tell us in the\n[internationalization Webmaster Help Forum](https://support.google.com/webmasters/threads?hl=en&thread_filter=(category:crawling_indexing_ranking)).\n\n\nPosted by Qin Yin, Software Engineer Search Infrastructure, and\n[Pierre Far](/search/blog/authors/pierre-far),\nWebmaster Trends Analyst"]]
