Cloaking

Cloaking is an unethical promotion technique where content shown to users is different from the content shown to indexing bots. Site owners employ it to try and manipulate search algorithms: for example, when the content changes depending on how users get to the site.

What qualifies as cloaking

• When the site doesn't open via a direct link, but opens for users who come from:

  • Search results.
  • Links from any other source.

• When a user or search engine robot opens the site, its content significantly differs from the description in search results. This can include the following:

  • The site and search results show completely different content.

  • The site's behavior changes depending on whether it's accessed from search results or via a direct URL. For example, if a user follows a direct link, the site returns a 404 error; however, if they come from search results, the site works fine.

  • One of the page variants has block elements for manipulating search algorithms. For example, the indexing bot sees the variant with SEO-optimized text, while actual users don't see this block element.

What does not qualify as cloaking

• The site is temporarily down.
• Some of the site's functionality is temporarily unavailable.
• The layout of the page differs depending on how it is retrieved while the content remains consistent. For example, this is the case with adaptive layout, where the page looks different on mobile and desktop.
• The site's content differs depending on the user’s region.
• You're running an A/B test, and users and search engines see the same content in different design or UI.

How to fix or prevent the violation

Make sure that:

• The content on your site matches its description in search results.
• The site looks the same way when accessed via a direct link or from search results.
• There are no pages with block elements designed to manipulate search algorithms.

If you have any questions, reach us via the Yandex Webmaster support chat. To do this, click in the bottom right corner. Chat support is available daily from 8:00 to 20:00 (UTC+3).