CatieB Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Sorry for such a geek question but I've always wondered. When you look at the users online listed at the bottom of a page it has users listed that I recognise and also others named as Bing [bot] or Google [bot]. What or who are they and why are they looking at the forum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 They are the search engine bots that trawl the web and help to populate the search engines such as Google or Bing. There is also a Yahoo one that you will see around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatieB Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 Thank you but being a little simple I still dont really understand. Do you mean that search engines have something (a bot) that searches around to gather information? So if I post a unique topic the search engine would then know where to point someone looking for something similar? That makes sense and if so I've learnt something today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 That's exactly it. They trawl about and enable search engines to direct traffic to sites, based on info gleaned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyhole kate Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Thanks for asking CatieB I have wondered the very same thing I too have learned something new Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I fondly liken them to robot spiders crawling around the web. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowberry Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Wow DM. I wish I'd found that on my leg the other night rather than the brown furry one that was... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 If ever you log on in the middle of the night, cant sleep or whatever, the place is crawling with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatieB Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 I'm really glad I asked now, I've wanted to know for ages but thought it was a daft question. However DM you gave me a scare I have a real phobia. I wouldn't even be able to touch the screen on that. People who put pictures of spiders in something should have to give a health warning like on a packet of cigs or strobe lighting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I'm spider-phobic too, but that kind doesn't bother me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
