Title: Blocking GoogleBot
Last modified: August 22, 2016

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# Blocking GoogleBot

 *  [DocSheldon](https://wordpress.org/support/users/docsheldon/)
 * (@docsheldon)
 * [11 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocking-googlebot-1/)
 * A couple of days ago, I discovered that Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool couldn’t
   access one of my sites, and when I checked GWT, I found that the Fetch as Google
   function there found the site unreachable, too. After finding that there was 
   nothing in the htaccess or robots.txt that could be blocking access, I started
   troubleshooting my plugins and found AVH to be the culprit (I also tried cleansing
   all IPs out of the local blacklist, to see if it was blocked because of something
   there. Still unable to access with the plugin activated). I installed and activated
   the plugin on two other sites and found that it blocked Googlebot on both of 
   them, as well.
 * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/avh-first-defense-against-spam/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/avh-first-defense-against-spam/)

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

 *  Plugin Author [petervanderdoes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/petervanderdoes/)
 * (@petervanderdoes)
 * [11 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocking-googlebot-1/#post-5508180)
 * I just checked my own site with the Tool and the tool had no problem accessing
   my site.
 * Try purging your cache as well.
 *  Thread Starter [DocSheldon](https://wordpress.org/support/users/docsheldon/)
 * (@docsheldon)
 * [11 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocking-googlebot-1/#post-5508183)
 * I did that, Peter. And I have no cache plugin on the site, and I also checked
   to ensure that my host wasn’t caching it. The only thing that I’m seeing that
   _might _ have something to do with an incompatibility issue is that my host is
   running php v. 5.2.17… could that possibly be it?
 *  Plugin Author [petervanderdoes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/petervanderdoes/)
 * (@petervanderdoes)
 * [11 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocking-googlebot-1/#post-5508184)
 * Enable email notification of the plugin, clear the IP cache, clear the blacklist
   and use the tool again.
 * You should get an email stating which site block the tool. You might not know
   the IP the tool is using, but you know the time and the time is also printed 
   in the email.
 *  Thread Starter [DocSheldon](https://wordpress.org/support/users/docsheldon/)
 * (@docsheldon)
 * [11 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocking-googlebot-1/#post-5508187)
 * Okay, now it got strange, Peter. I did as you said and the Fetch as Google worked,
   twice in a row. I then went to the Mobile-Friendly testing tool, and it failed.
   After that, the Fetch as Google tool again finds the domain unreachable.
    It 
   doesn’t seem likely, but it would appear that testing with the Mobile-Friendly
   tool triggered something that then blocks GoogleBot!
 *  Thread Starter [DocSheldon](https://wordpress.org/support/users/docsheldon/)
 * (@docsheldon)
 * [11 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocking-googlebot-1/#post-5508192)
 * Thanks for responding, Peter! I’ll keep digging and if I learn what the problem
   is, I’ll post it back here.
 * Cheers!
 *  Plugin Author [petervanderdoes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/petervanderdoes/)
 * (@petervanderdoes)
 * [11 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocking-googlebot-1/#post-5508250)
 * Did you get an email of some sort from the plugin?
 *  Thread Starter [DocSheldon](https://wordpress.org/support/users/docsheldon/)
 * (@docsheldon)
 * [11 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocking-googlebot-1/#post-5508492)
 * Sorry, Peter, for failing to get back to you. NO, I did not get any notification
   email. I have deactivated the plugin, as I didn’t have time to investigate further.
   At this point, we’re undergoing some redesign, so maybe we’ll find the issue 
   while debugging.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

The topic ‘Blocking GoogleBot’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://s.w.org/plugins/geopattern-icon/avh-first-defense-against-spam.svg)
 * [AVH First Defense Against Spam](https://wordpress.org/plugins/avh-first-defense-against-spam/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/avh-first-defense-against-spam/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/avh-first-defense-against-spam/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/avh-first-defense-against-spam/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/avh-first-defense-against-spam/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/avh-first-defense-against-spam/reviews/)

 * 7 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [DocSheldon](https://wordpress.org/support/users/docsheldon/)
 * Last activity: [11 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blocking-googlebot-1/#post-5508492)
 * Status: not resolved