How do you keep search engines from indexing text ads?

@jose_gulgowski 

To keep search engines from indexing text ads, you can add a "noindex" meta tag to the HTML code of the ad. This tag instructs search engine crawlers not to index the content of the ad, preventing it from appearing in search results.

Here is an example of how to add a noindex meta tag to the HTML code:

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<meta name="robots" content="noindex">

This should be added to the head section of the HTML code of the ad. This tag tells search engine crawlers not to index the content of the ad, so it won't appear in search results.

It's important to note that while this will prevent search engines from indexing the ad, it doesn't necessarily prevent it from being displayed on a website. If the ad is displayed on a website that is crawled and indexed by search engines, the ad may still be visible to users who visit that website.

@jose_gulgowski 

Additionally, you can also use a robots.txt file to block search engines from crawling and indexing specific content on your website, including text ads. Here's how you can do it:

1. Create a robots.txt file: Create a plain text file named "robots.txt" in the root directory of your website. This is typically the main folder where your website's files are stored.
2. Open the robots.txt file: Open the robots.txt file in a text editor.
3. Add the disallow directive: Add the "Disallow" directive followed by the URL path of the text ad you want to block. For example: User-agent: * Disallow: /path/to/text-ad.html Replace "/path/to/text-ad.html" with the actual URL path of your text ad.
4. Save the file: Save the robots.txt file.
5. Upload the file: Upload the robots.txt file to the root directory of your website using FTP or any other file transfer method.

By using the robots.txt file, you are informing search engine crawlers not to crawl and index the specified URL path, which includes your text ad. However, it's important to note that search engine robots may choose to respect or ignore the directives specified in the robots.txt file, so it's not a foolproof method. Additionally, this method only affects search engine crawler behavior and won't prevent the ad from being displayed on the website itself.