What is all this Google and Bing bot active user all about?

[Need2Talk]

What is all this Google and Bing bot active user all about?

I wound up on a page that showed who was on and active and saw those 2 little buggers on.

I am not a techy so I am curious what are they and what are they doing on the site?

[Need2Talk]

Gheeeezzz those little buggers are back again. What are those things?

[Oldbear]

It would be helpful and appreciated if a Moderator or Admin weighed in on this question.

My understanding (from a modest level of search engine theory and practice) is that TMB uses bots (Bing and Google) to help collect most frequently used words, phrases, etc. as an optimization tool for query and usage.

[Dale]

They are harmless and have always been there!

They are not malicious bots, rather, they help TMB to show up on search engines and are a regular part of the system. They do NOT track user data or in any way compromise our members.

PaulB, who owns TMB, could explain better, but fear not, they are friendly bots and will not turn into Skynet—at least, I hope not!

Dale
TMB Board Czar

[Oldbear]

They are harmless and have always been there!

They are not malicious bots, rather, they help TMB to show up on search engines and are a regular part of the system. They do NOT track user data or in any way compromise our members.

PaulB, who owns TMB, could explain better, but fear not, they are friendly bots and will not turn into Skynet—at least, I hope not!

Dale
TMB Board Czar

Thanks, Dale!