Robots Exclusion Protocol

The Robots Exclusion Protocol, or robots.txt, is a set of instructions that website owners use to communicate with web crawlers or bots, like those from search engines. It tells these bots which parts of the website they’re allowed to visit and index, and which parts to avoid. This helps protect sensitive information, reduce server load, and manage website privacy. It's a voluntary standard; well-behaved bots follow these rules, but malicious ones might ignore them. Overall, it’s a way for website administrators to control how their site is accessed and displayed in search results.