Other · Yandex
YandexMobileScreenShotBot user agent, IP ranges and robots.txt
YandexMobileScreenShotBot is Yandex's other. It identifies itself with the YandexMobileScreenShotBot user-agent token, applies robots.txt only in part, per its operator, and can be verified by reverse DNS (yandex.ru, yandex.net, yandex.com).
- Operator
- Yandex
- Reviewed
- September 2026
- Sources
- 1
- Operator
- Yandex
- User-agent token
- YandexMobileScreenShotBot
- Purpose
- Other
- robots.txt token
- YandexMobileScreenShotBot
- Honors robots.txt
- Partially, see notes
- Published IP ranges
- No official range file
- Verification
- Reverse DNS lookup on the requesting IP must return a host ending in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com, and a forward DNS lookup of that host must return the same IP. Yandex Webmaster also provides an IP address check tool.
- Reverse DNS suffix
- yandex.ru, yandex.net, yandex.com
- Full user-agent example
- Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YandexMobileScreenShotBot/1.0; +http://yandex.com/bots)
Block or allow YandexMobileScreenShotBot in robots.txt
User-agent: YandexMobileScreenShotBot
Disallow: /User-agent: YandexMobileScreenShotBot
Allow: /Verify a request is really YandexMobileScreenShotBot
Anyone can put YandexMobileScreenShotBot in a User-Agent header. Reverse DNS lookup on the requesting IP must return a host ending in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com, and a forward DNS lookup of that host must return the same IP. Yandex Webmaster also provides an IP address check tool.
host <request-ip>
# expect a hostname ending in yandex.ru, yandex.net, yandex.com
host <that-hostname>
# expect it to resolve back to <request-ip>What YandexMobileScreenShotBot does
Yandex operates YandexMobileScreenShotBot, which takes a screenshot of the mobile page. It has the robots.txt token YandexMobileScreenShotBot, but Yandex states it does not follow general robots.txt rules, so the entry records its compliance as partial. Site owners verify it by reverse DNS to yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com with forward confirmation, or with the Yandex Webmaster IP check tool.
In logs YandexMobileScreenShotBot identifies itself as Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YandexMobileScreenShotBot/1.0; +http://yandex.com/bots). Yandex's robot list describes its job in one sentence, taking a screenshot of the mobile page. The documentation adds nothing about where those screenshots appear or how often the robot returns, and it does not say whether the robot renders JavaScript. The entry files it under other rather than under search engines, because the operator does not tie the screenshots to indexing or to any named product.
Control depends on the token. Yandex marks this robot as not taking general robots.txt rules into account, so a Disallow written for User-agent: * is not documented to stop it. The robot has its own token, YandexMobileScreenShotBot, and a group addressed to that token is the documented way to reach it. Blocking it prevents Yandex from capturing screenshots of the site's mobile pages; the documentation does not say what Yandex does with those images, so it describes no further effect of a block.
Verification follows the standard Yandex check. Reverse-resolve the requesting IP, confirm the hostname ends in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com, then resolve that hostname forward and check it returns the same IP. Yandex Webmaster includes an IP address check tool that performs the same test. Yandex publishes no IP range list for this robot. A user-agent string on its own does not prove the source, so run one of these checks before trusting a request.
Operator note. It does not take into account the general rules in robots.txt.
Common questions
- Does YandexMobileScreenShotBot obey robots.txt?
- Partly. Yandex states that this robot does not take general robots.txt rules into account, so a User-agent: * group is not documented to stop it. It does have its own token, YandexMobileScreenShotBot, and rules addressed to that token are the documented way to control it.
- Should I block YandexMobileScreenShotBot?
- Yandex says the robot takes a screenshot of the mobile page and does not explain what the screenshot is used for, so the trade-off is not documented. Blocking it with a rule for its own token stops the screenshots; the docs describe no effect on search indexing either way.
- How do I verify YandexMobileScreenShotBot?
- Run a reverse DNS lookup on the source IP and confirm the hostname ends in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com, then resolve that hostname forward and check it gives back the same IP. Yandex Webmaster also has an IP address check tool. Yandex publishes no IP range list for this robot.
Sources
The operator documentation used for this entry. Recorded review date September 2026; consult the linked pages for current policy and compare them with this dated snapshot.
This registry documents how operators describe their own bots so site owners can identify and control them. It does not publish third-party IP lists or guess at undocumented behaviour. To see how your own site responds to automated visitors, the bot detection scanner reads a URL's live response and names the protection it finds.