Google Updates Googlebot Verification Documentation

Google updated their Search Central Documentation to on verifying Googlebot, adding documentation about user-triggered bot visits, information that was missing from previous Googlebot documentation, which has created confusion for many years, with some publishers blocking the IP ranges of the legitimate visits. It was enough to know that it was a visit from Google, triggered by users. Google’s new documentation explains that bot activity from IP addresses associated with GoogleUserContent.com can be triggered by the Google Site Verifier tool. A Google Search Console Help discussion from 2020 shows how confused people were about activity associated with GoogleUserContent. Publishers who are currently blocking IP addresses associated with GoogleUserContent should probably unblock them.