New bot from Google?

[Dijkgraaf]

I just noticed two hits from the IP 72.14.194.17 (which belongs to Google). Usually I see either Google Translate or Google Site Verification coming from that IP.
This time however it had a blank UA and fetched only favicon.ico twice, ten seconds apart.

Anyone else seeing this behavior?

[dstiles]

I have that IP marked as "google verification" - ie web site WMT verification.

[Pfui]

If you use Google's Webmaster Tools:

Many of G's IPs fetch the favicon that appears alongside your site name(s) in the Dashboard. If you don't use GWT, no clue.

What irks me is that there's no UA when G just fetches favicons --

72.14.192.4 /favicon.ico
72.14.192.65 /favicon.ico
72.14.194.33 /favicon.ico
(partial listing)

On a related note, the following used Google-Site-Verification/1.0 --

72.14.192.4
72.14.193.65
72.14.194.33
64.233.173.1
(partial listing)

Unfortunately, Google's IPs (& UAs) are an increasingly mixed bag.

[Dijkgraaf]

I recently started using GWT, so is probably it.
Yes, not having a UA is a bit annoying as well as it not having a rDNS.

[Pfui]

Wasn't sure which thread, so here goes, a(nother) new, cloaked Google bot? Or a real person? Or--? 'Twas a bare (no rDNS) Google IP; running one of a gaziliion Google apps; possibly a real person. Blocked because Google's IPs are limited to Googlebot, verification, RSS.

72.14.194.33
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.7 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/7.0.517.44 Safari/534.7 AppEngine-Google; (+http://code.google.com/appengine; appid: cstr20r)

robots.txt? NO

Notes:

1.) The UA's link says nothing about "cstr20r", neither does a Google search.
2.) The first hit was to a new-this-week bot trap 'page' that #includes Project Honey Pot's trap page o' 'Thou Shalt Nots'. Not a rewrite-to based on the UA, etc., but straight to it.
3.) Additional hits were to a trap JPG, favicon, a subdirectory index, a different subdirectory file, and root.
4.) Here's the kicker... The hits and timing (seven minutes) looked for all the world like a real person wondering why they were hitting the trap and trying again:

00:14:38 - trap
00:15:42 - trap
00:17:06 - root
00:19:13 - dir1 index
00:21:51 - dir2 file

Beats me. Thoughts?

[dstiles]

I have 11 hits on that IP since 10-Oct, all 403'd. First hit on 10-Oct was kw-lp-suggest which seems to be a keyword checker? After that, from 13-Nov (today), they all seem to be the Web Preview UA. In one ten-minute period it occurred bracketed by two hits from 66.149.82.199 which again has no rDNS and was again the Preview UA.

Could it be Preview is looking for screenshots "on demand" from punters?

I began trapping Web Preview with 403's around midnight 12/13-Nov so there could have been several before then. I would need to experiment again.

On the other hand, google's IP strategy could mean almost anything is using them.

[Pfui]

@dstiles:

1.) Beware GWP, messing with it or allowing it. See my post of today (# 4230046): [webmasterworld.com...]

2.) In the early- to mid-1990s when AOL was dialup-only and connections were iffy at best, punt/punted related to kicking, specifically getting kicked -- "I got punted" -- off AOL because the connection went dead or the program crashed and you had to redial to resume.

(Aside: Getting punted was such a pain. And so routine. Wow, those were the days. Anyway...)

Recently you've used the word "punters" a couple of times but I understand neither your meaning nor context. What/who are your punters, please? TIA

[dstiles]

Ah. UK usage only? :)

From merriam-webster.com:

Definition of PUNTER

1: one that punts: as a chiefly British : a person who gambles; especially : one who bets against a bookmaker b : a person who uses a punt in boating c : a person who punts a ball

2: chiefly British : customer, patron

Examples of PUNTER

1. He was one of the greatest punters in NFL history.
2. Effective marketing means getting the punters to buy what you want them to buy.
3. The sale attracted more than 1,000 punters.

First Known Use of PUNTER: circa 1706

Basically, "customer" :)

[Pfui]

At the risk of repeating m'self... Wasn't sure which thread, so here goes, a(nother) new, cloaked Google bot? Or--? 'Again bare (no rDNS) Google IPs --

74.125.44.86
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0.7) Gecko/20060909 Firefox/1.5.0.7
12/27 01:28:18 custom-error-page.html

robots.txt? NO
Fake ref? YES

74.125.75.17
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0.7) Gecko/20060909 Firefox/1.5.0.7
12/27 00:52:14 custom-error-page.html
12/27 06:42:53 custom-error-page.html
12/27 08:40:19 custom-error-page.html
12/27 22:36:21 custom-error-page.html

robots.txt? NO
Fake ref? YES (the first and last hits)