Google Introduces New Robots Tag

We would like to welcome the newest robots tag introduced by Google this month: indexifembedded

This new tag will help you to control when your content is indexed by telling Google to index it even when its embedded via iFrames and similar HTML tags on other pages, even with a noindex tag.

What is an iFrame?

An iFrame, short for “inline frame,” is an HTML element used to embed another HTML document or web page within the current web page. It allows you to display content from an external source within a designated area on your web page. iFrames are often used for various purposes, including embedding videos, maps, forms, or content from third-party websites.

The “indexifembedded” tag tackles a prevalent concern, particularly relevant to media publishers. This issue arises when these publishers wish to have their content indexed when it’s embedded on third-party websites, yet they do not desire the indexing of their standalone media pages. To avoid indexing these media pages, they currently employ a “noindex” tag on such pages. However, the use of the “noindex” tag also inhibits the embedding of content in other pages during the indexing process.

indexifembedded Tag to the Rescue

The recently introduced “indexifembedded” robots tag functions in conjunction with the “noindex” tag solely when the page marked with “noindex” is embedded within another page through an iframe or a similar HTML tag, such as “object.”

Via Google: to enable your content to be indexed only when it’s embedded on other pages, make sure to add indexifembedded in combination with the noindex tag. For example:

<meta name="googlebot" content="noindex" />
<meta name="googlebot" content="indexifembedded" />
<!-- OR -->
<meta name="googlebot" content="noindex,indexifembedded" />

Alternatively, you can specify the tag in the HTTP header:

X-Robots-Tag: googlebot:noindex
X-Robots-Tag: googlebot:indexifembedded
...
OR
…
X-Robots-Tag: googlebot:noindex,indexifembedded

This will allow sites which embed secondary content from other domains to embed content during the indexing process, helping to make their pages more relevant.

If you need assistance with your website or have questions about the proper ways to embed content into your own contact our expert Website Design Company today!