What is GoogleMessages?
GoogleMessages is Google's fetcher that retrieves web page metadata to generate link previews for URLs shared in Google Messages. You can set up Agent Analytics to see when GoogleMessages visits your website.
Overview
| Operated By | |
| Source | Official Website |
| Expected To Follow Robots.txt | No |
| Insights Last Updated | September 4, 2026 |
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Category
Expected Behavior
GoogleMessages usually makes a single request within seconds of a URL being shared, without crawling further. Traffic rises and falls with sharing activity, so a widely circulated link can produce a sharp burst of fetches.
GoogleMessages's User Agent
| User Agent | GoogleMessages/20.2 facebookexternalhit/1.1 Facebot Twitterbot/1.0 |
How To Block GoogleMessages With Robots.txt
Add this rule to your robots.txt file to request that GoogleMessages not access your website, or use Automatic Robots.txt to request the same of all fetchers at once. You can customize which pages are blocked by swapping out / for a different path.
User-agent: GoogleMessages # https://knownagents.com/agents/googlemessages
Disallow: /Insights for GoogleMessages
As of September 4, 2026, this data reflects agent visits measured across thousands of websites using Agent Analytics, combined with daily scans of the top 1000 websites and their robots.txt files.
Robots.txt Blocked Percentage
Country of Origin
Robots.txt Blocking Trend
6% of top websites block GoogleMessages in their robots.txts.
Overall Fetcher Traffic
1.9% of all web traffic came from fetchers.
Top Visited Website Categories
The types of websites most frequently visited by GoogleMessages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I Block GoogleMessages?
Usually not. Blocking GoogleMessages may leave shared links without a title or image, making them less inviting to click. If it begins fetching at unexpected volume, try rate limiting before blocking it outright. For context, 6% of the top websites we track currently have robots.txt rules for GoogleMessages.
Does GoogleMessages Follow Robots.txt Rules?
No. GoogleMessages is not expected to follow robots.txt rules, so a disallow rule only communicates your preference. Enforce the block with firewall or server rules, then use Agent Analytics to verify that its requests stop.
Does GoogleMessages Access Private Content?
No. GoogleMessages has no credentials and should access only the public URL and assets needed for a preview. It does not continue through the rest of your site.
How Can I Tell if GoogleMessages Is Visiting My Website?
Agent Analytics tracks GoogleMessages visits in real time. You can also check your server logs for requests whose user-agent string contains "GoogleMessages". Look for a page and its preview assets being requested without follow-up navigation. Because GoogleMessages does not publish a verification method, any client can claim its identity and a log match is only a clue.
Why Is GoogleMessages Visiting My Website?
Someone shared a link to your page. GoogleMessages fetched it to build a preview card, and each new share may trigger another request. A spike often means your content is circulating more widely.