Managing Crawl Rate Limits via Google Search Console Settings

You can no longer manage or set crawl rate limits directly via Google Search Console, as Google deprecated and removed the crawl rate limiter tool in January 2024. This tool previously allowed site owners to request Googlebot to crawl their site less frequently, mainly to reduce server load, but Google has since improved its crawling algorithms to automatically adjust crawl rates based on server responsiveness and site conditions.

Google now controls crawl rate dynamically by monitoring how your server responds to Googlebot’s requests. If your server is slow or returns errors, Googlebot will reduce its crawl rate to avoid overloading your server. Conversely, if your server responds quickly and reliably, Googlebot may increase crawl frequency to discover and index content faster.

While you cannot set crawl rate preferences manually anymore, you can still monitor Googlebot’s crawling activity through the Crawl Stats report in Google Search Console. This report provides detailed insights into crawl requests, response times, and errors, helping you understand how Googlebot interacts with your site and identify any server issues that might affect crawling.

If you experience crawling problems, Google recommends reviewing server performance and fixing errors. You can also use Google’s support resources and report forms to notify Google of any crawling issues.

Key points:

• Crawl rate limiter tool in Google Search Console was removed in January 2024.
• Google automatically manages crawl rate based on server performance and site responsiveness.
• You can monitor crawl activity via the Crawl Stats report in Google Search Console.
• If crawling issues arise, focus on improving server stability and response times.

This means managing crawl rate limits is now largely automatic, with your best control being to maintain a fast, reliable server and monitor crawl stats regularly.