He also pointed out that the timing was a key clue:
“If it’s all at exactly the same time, it wouldn’t be robots.txt, and probably not DNS.”
Impact on Search Results
Regarding search visibility concerns, Mueller reassured this type of disruption wouldn’t cause any problems:
“If this is from today, and it just lasted a few hours, I wouldn’t expect any visible issues in search.”
Why This Matters
When Googlebot suddenly stops crawling across numerous sites simultaneously, it can be challenging to identify the root cause.
While temporary crawling pauses might not immediately impact search rankings, they can disrupt Google’s ability to discover and index new content.
The incident highlights a vulnerability organizations might face without realizing it, especially those relying on shared infrastructure.
How This Can Help You
If time Googlebot stops crawling your sites:
Check if the problem hits multiple sites at once
Look at your shared infrastructure first
Use Search Console data to narrow down the cause
Don’t rule out DNS just because regular traffic looks fine
Keep an eye on your logs
For anyone running multiple sites behind a CDN, make sure you:
Have good logging set up
Watch your crawl rates
Know who to call when things go sideways
Keep tabs on your infrastructure provider
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