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Look, I'm the google bot.


Look, I'm the google bot.

By ghostghost | 9793 Reads |
0     0

What you'll need: Firefox, The Modify Headers extension for firefox.

What you can do: Many sites allow google to look into their forums, in order to get more traffic by getting more google search results. By pretending to be the google search indexer (aka spider, bot) we can access parts of these sites off limits to guests.

Example URL: http://www.tuts4you.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=9959 I found this address today doing a google search, and noticed that although I didn't have access, google had a cached version. Head over to this url, and you should get the same error as me.

First, head over to google and type in 'browser headers'. The first link should take you to a page which gives you all the information your browser sends to web servers. This information, specifically the User-Agent field, is how the google bot tells web servers what it is. Go back to the google search, and click on the 'cached' link.

Notice in the 'User-Agent' field, where it once showed your browser info, now it says: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)

Download the Modify Headers extension. (http://modifyheaders.mozdev.org/) And open it up. Next you need to make a rule, modifying the 'User-Agent' header to say 'Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)' Once you're done, make sure it's enabled, and browse over to the example url. Even though you're not logged in, you should be able to browse their forums.

Let me know what you think.

Digitalchameleon

Comments
ghost's avatar
ghost 16 years ago

There's also a way to do it with registry editing, HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

ghost's avatar
ghost 16 years ago

haha, fun stuff B)

What_A_Legend's avatar
What_A_Legend 16 years ago

Access other sort of sites to if you know what I mean :P

korg's avatar
korg 16 years ago

Been using this for quite awhile, Sites that block you from viewing anything unless you join or Fuckin' pay (IE:Experts-exchange) Is bullshit. Works great. Also works on download sites that limit you also. @DarkMessiah You need to change these values in IE for this to work: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Version Vector

Change these reg. keys to the value you want to apply. Just remember to save your original (as always) to change them back.

Great article for people who didn't know this.

korg's avatar
korg 16 years ago

^Nice line breaks guys thanks^

Uber0n's avatar
Uber0n 16 years ago

It's not a new trick but it's definately a good one :)

ghost's avatar
ghost 16 years ago

Awesome :D I had no clue about this, tested it a minute ago and works great :D Thanks for this article:happy:

ghost's avatar
ghost 16 years ago

Didn't know about the registry hack. Have to remember that, for situations in which I am away from my computer.:D

mido's avatar
mido 16 years ago

I loved that article. Very good (rating).

ghost's avatar
ghost 16 years ago

@korg yeah i thought there was more than one key but i've been using the ff extension

Uber0n's avatar
Uber0n 16 years ago

User Agent Switcher ftw ^^ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59

ghost's avatar
ghost 16 years ago

@korg, it's real easy to view Experts Exchange using the NoScript extension… just scroll to the bottom of the page, and all the answers are there after the b.s. "you must join to see the answer" messages. Javascript for the loss! :p @DC… cute trick. Might have to give it a whirl to see what I can make of it. Article actually covered material that wasn't already covered on here, so I have to give it an 'Awesome' for originality.

ghost's avatar
ghost 16 years ago

It is true that the worst content here receives the most attention. I have many better articles.

ghost's avatar
ghost 16 years ago

The downside of being the google bot: http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/

korg's avatar
korg 16 years ago

@Zephyr I'm on IE most of the time but thanks for the tip I'll have to try it.:D

alldatizholy's avatar
alldatizholy 16 years ago

i tried it on alot of sites and it dont work….http://www.gigposters.com/forums/premium-opportunities/61653-radio-publicity.html

alldatizholy's avatar
alldatizholy 16 years ago

i tried it on alot of sites and it dont work….http://www.gigposters.com/forums/premium-opportunities/61653-radio-publicity.html

alldatizholy's avatar
alldatizholy 16 years ago

lol nvm…it only works on very few websites…lolz

ghost's avatar
ghost 16 years ago

Most sites have noticed the googlebot uses only a limited amount of ip addresses. They filter on that now. Maybe yahoo or altavista or some other search engine spider still works. That would be interesting to find out.

ghost's avatar
ghost 16 years ago

Nice dude. yeah maybe this is my first comment on any article lol? :D