Can I do this with Googlebot?

[sportsguy]

OK, so as a follow on to another topic I have, this post is much more specific:

We're having issues with the coding of our common login system - it returns a series of 302 redirects as it bounces users between servers to determine if they're logged in or not.

These users include Googlbot - sadly...

So, a potential solution we've identified, to ensure Googlebot isn't subject to these redirects, is to ID Googlebot by it's agent name and allow it to pass the login check part of things.

The end results remains the same in either case:

All users end up at exactly the requested/expected page

My concern is this:

Is it OK to give Gbot this free pass to bypass the login system?

(We are not logging Gbot in - we are helping it skip the process of verifying whether it, as a user, is logged into our network or not already)

I'm sure I've mucked up this info in some manner, so post up thoughts and ideas. I'd rather stop this before we give it to the programmers and invest their time, if it's forbidden to things like this for Gbot.

Based on what I've read about Google preferring sites make things easier for Gbot, I'm hoping this falls into the acceptable range of actions.

[vicyankees]

What you are looking to do is technically considered cloaking because you are showing Googlebot something that the user doesn't see in the same process. There are a few ways around this - your best bet is to contact Google in reference to their First Click Free program. What this allows for you to do is allow the user to view that first click into your website from Google in its entirety so if it's a multi-page article, you need to grant the user rights to see the whole article. But then if the user navigate anywhere else, you can then hit them up with the registration. Part of the instructions for the program is to specifically white list Googlebot beyond these pages allowing it to index the site and as long as you adhere to the 1st click free, they will not penalize you.

[sportsguy]

Everyone is seeing the exact same content.

Logged in, logged out, spider, human - doesn't matter - they all go to the actual content they were expecting to go to.

So my question stands, I guess...

[evilgreenmonkey]

Google has condoned certain use of cloaking (http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/003691.html) in the past, I do not see what you're doing as an issue. I would however be extremely concerned about how your login/personalisation process works though and would highly recommend changing it to a user and spider friendly alternative ASAP. 302 redirects are not just bad for the engines, they're also bad practice at server, browser and user level in the described set-up.

:cool:

Rob

[Robert_Charlton]

Is it OK to give Gbot this free pass to bypass the login system?

I haven't thought it through fully, but it seems to me like this is essentially the same question that was asked about what Experts-Exchange has been doing.

This discussion about it might be helpful...

Experts-Exchange - Sort-Of Cloaking?
http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=11974

[vicyankees]

Matt Cutts just mentioned this on his blog the other day...

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/a-quick-word-about-cloaking/

[sportsguy]

Thanks gang - I'm off to read. :)

...and yep, the long-term goal (maybe short-term if we can crack it this week) is to reconfigure the login system, rather than band-aid things for individual spiders...