---
title: "Meta-ExternalAds: user agent and token | Agent Ready Crawlers"
description: "Meta-ExternalAds from Meta: exact user-agent string, robots.txt token meta-externalads, other purpose and how to verify it. Read 2026-11-04."
canonical: https://agentreadycrawlers.com/crawlers/meta-externalads
site: "Agent Ready Crawlers"
last_updated: 2026-11-04
section: "Crawlers"
---

# Meta-ExternalAds: user agent and token | Agent Ready Crawlers

> Meta-ExternalAds from Meta: exact user-agent string, robots.txt token meta-externalads, other purpose and how to verify it. Read 2026-11-04.

Source: https://agentreadycrawlers.com/crawlers/meta-externalads
Site: Agent Ready Crawlers
Last reviewed: 2026-11-04

Bot from Meta

# Meta-ExternalAds

In short

Meta-ExternalAds is Meta's bot, filed under Other. The token to write in robots.txt is meta-externalads. The operator publishes nothing a site can check. The crawl of 2026-11-04 did not measure meta-externalads. Improves advertising and other business products, per Meta. Its user-agent entry: meta-externalads/1.1 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers). Meta shows robots.txt groups for meta-externalads in its example file.

Operator

[Meta](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/crawlers/operator/meta/) Vendor profile: [Meta](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/vendors/meta/)

Purpose

Other [All other rows](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/crawlers/purpose/other/). Link previews, ad checks, dataset crawls, SEO tools and legacy tokens that fit none of the five purposes.

User-agent string

`meta-externalads/1.1 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers)`

robots.txt token

`meta-externalads` Matched case-insensitively (RFC 9309). The token and the user-agent string are different things.

Respects robots.txt

Yes, per operator

Meta shows robots.txt groups for meta-externalads in its example file. [Source](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers/), read 2026-11-04.

Verification

Nothing published

The operator publishes no list, reverse DNS pattern or key directory a site owner can check. [Documentation](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers/), read 2026-11-04.

IP ranges

Not published.

Rate behaviour

Not published.

Block rate

Not measured: the crawl checked 31 AI and search tokens, and `meta-externalads` is not one of them.

Documentation

[developers.facebook.com](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers/), read 2026-11-04.

Note. Improves advertising and other business products, per Meta.

## Allow and refuse lines

### To allow meta-externalads

User-agent: meta-externalads
Allow: /

### To refuse meta-externalads

User-agent: meta-externalads
Disallow: /

Refusing or allowing in robots.txt states a preference. Enforcement of a refusal belongs in your WAF; see how to verify the identity above.

## Meta in the Verification Ledger

User agent strings only; the page recommends IP allowlisting but links no list. Publishes nothing for Muse. [All operators](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/verification/).

IP lists

publishes nothing

Reverse DNS

publishes nothing

Key directory

publishes nothing

Cloudflare

not checked

Visa TAP registry

no public operator-level registration found (checked 2026-11-04)

Mastercard Agent Pay

no public operator-level registration found (checked 2026-11-04)

## Other Meta rows

-   [Meta-ExternalAgent](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/crawlers/meta-externalagent/) Training token meta-externalagent
-   [Meta-ExternalFetcher](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/crawlers/meta-externalfetcher/) Live answer fetch token meta-externalfetcher
-   [Meta-WebIndexer](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/crawlers/meta-webindexer/) Search index token meta-webindexer
-   [FacebookExternalHit](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/crawlers/facebookexternalhit/) Other token facebookexternalhit
-   [FacebookBot (legacy token)](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/crawlers/facebookbot/) Other token FacebookBot
-   [Muse (personal agent)](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/crawlers/meta-muse/) Shopping agent no token

## Sources

-   [Meta Web Crawlers](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers/) read 2026-11-04

Last reviewed 2026-11-04