# \[Debunking\] Want to know how and how far does IG Crawl? **URL:** \ **Category:** Instagram Marketing\ **Created:** [March 4, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053 "2017-03-04T05:04:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dddd](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/dddd/32/11519_2.png) [@dddd](https://mpsocial.com/u/dddd)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/1 "2017-03-04T05:04:34Z")
In an effort to find out how, and how far does IG crawl, I was utterly surprised. Even though IG is supposedly using FB as backbone, i thought just plugging it to /debugger will solve my so called trick to redirect the users and leave the bot in place. Here’s what it did : ![](https://mpsocial.com/uploads/default/original/2X/7/756ad2ca8f572b845ff72e2723589e45f8717858.png) So what happened was, we know that FB [does not parse javascript](https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/method-trick-facebook-and-become-a-true-facebook-ninja.771288/) and there is absolutely no need to do that. I’ve used the [debugger](https://href.li/?https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/) many times to confirm. So i set up a javascript redirect for an IG landing page, and in the middle i put a website that can log useragent and IP. [https://grabify.link](https://grabify.link) To my surprise, they used a bot that’s a PC that visits the links and since it’s a real browser emulation, it can read javascript as well. (F\*\*k Me, because i used my actual LP at the end of the redir chain.) Prior to that, I mentioned a few times elsewhere that they are using a real browser to crawl, to the point i’m even suspecting they have a real human behind it visiting my links and using the site. That was most likely a co-incidednce since i am running the ads, but every link i post up, someone visits it and has a real mouse moving. Using hotjar, [Contentsquare Product Tour - Elevate Your Digital Strategy](https://www.hotjar.com/tour) you can see a human-like behaviour which is mindblowing. I’m going to do a further test and see what the hell are they doing. I forgot to set up the site to track things using hotjar, but i’ll do that again soon with a dummy site. Lets hope my site didn’t get blacklisted. Damn shiet. ---
**Author:** ![wortime](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/wortime/32/30775_2.png) [@wortime](https://mpsocial.com/u/wortime)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 7:54am UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/2 "2017-03-04T07:54:29Z")
Human like movement…They have Billions at their disposal, and some crafty programs, wouldn’t be shocked that it can emulate a human movement… That being said, nice post! Way to dog in to it! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/johnny/32/45706_2.png) [@Johnny](https://mpsocial.com/u/Johnny)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 10:11am UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/3 "2017-03-04T10:11:36Z")
Fixed the image, as for the post itself, interesting finding, now if only the people using [bit.ly](http://bit.ly) to hide their link would read this… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cpafromcroatia](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/cpafromcroatia/32/4138_2.png) [@cpafromcroatia](https://mpsocial.com/u/cpafromcroatia)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 11:11am UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/4 "2017-03-04T11:11:57Z")
What exactly do you mean by mentioning bitly. Some people use it for hiding their links I use bizly only in purpose of following how many click I got to my main link. As for the instagram I don’t think people get banned becouse of the bitly . I think they get banned becouse of the for example raw CPA link under the bitly. But if you have good domain wich is under bitly you will be just fine. Anyways awesome thread. I’m curious just as you about this matter ---
**Author:** ![Gernozarus](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/gernozarus/32/9795_2.png) [@Gernozarus](https://mpsocial.com/u/Gernozarus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/5 "2017-03-04T11:56:20Z")
Wow! Very interesting indeed… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/johnny/32/45706_2.png) [@Johnny](https://mpsocial.com/u/Johnny)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 12:40pm UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/6 "2017-03-04T12:40:08Z")
> [@cpafromcroatia](#): > > What exactly do you mean by mentioning bitly I mean that there are many people that believe that by using bit.ly with their link they are completely hidden and Ig can’t see what they are doing, and after that they wonder why all accounts got closed… ---
**Author:** ![abbecain](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/abbecain/32/320_2.png) [@abbecain](https://mpsocial.com/u/abbecain)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/7 "2017-03-04T15:19:02Z")
Great post @dddd! Thanks for taking your time for this. I am not sure what to think, though. Let’s wait for further results. ---
**Author:** ![ian](https://mpsocial.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@ian](https://mpsocial.com/u/ian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/8 "2017-03-04T17:35:26Z")
I guess now we know the real reason they won’t fix the hashtag issue, because they’ve put everyone on profile link clicking duty 😂 ---
**Author:** ![Entrepreneur](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/entrepreneur/32/3382_2.png) [@Entrepreneur](https://mpsocial.com/u/Entrepreneur)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/9 "2017-03-04T22:05:39Z")
Amazing! I was reading and wondering if you used some real time analytics until I saw Hotjar, very well thought! Lets see how far we can reach with this 👊😉 > [@ian](#): > > the hashtag issue What issue are you talking about? 😝 ---
**Author:** ![ian](https://mpsocial.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@ian](https://mpsocial.com/u/ian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/10 "2017-03-04T22:09:32Z")
> [@Instagram - admitting there is an hashtag issue](http://mpsocial.com/t/instagram-admitting-there-is-an-hashtag-issue/6780?source_topic_id=416): > > Instagram Post [here](https://www.facebook.com/instagramforbusiness/posts/1046447858817451) an Issue with Hashtags. Any one has engagement problems? We understand users have experienced issues with our hashtag search that caused posts to not be surfaced. We are continuously working on improvements to our system with the resources available. When developing content, we recommend focusing on your business objective or goal rather than hashtags. Having a growth strategy that targets the right audience is essential to success on Instagram. Good content on Instagram … ---
**Author:** ![Entrepreneur](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/entrepreneur/32/3382_2.png) [@Entrepreneur](https://mpsocial.com/u/Entrepreneur)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/11 "2017-03-04T22:12:52Z")
Thanks mate 😸 ---
**Author:** ![trueword](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/trueword/32/3894_2.png) [@trueword](https://mpsocial.com/u/trueword)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/12 "2017-03-04T23:02:06Z")
it comes from safari , cant we just block safari as a useragent ? ---
**Author:** ![MojoJojo](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/mojojojo/32/1246_2.png) [@MojoJojo](https://mpsocial.com/u/MojoJojo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/13 "2017-03-04T23:19:29Z")
> [@trueword](#): > > it comes from safari , cant we just block safari as a useragent ? You can also block ALL users and solve your problem that way 🙂 Blocking safari will block the entire Apple population so I don’t think it’s a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![trueword](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/trueword/32/3894_2.png) [@trueword](https://mpsocial.com/u/trueword)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/14 "2017-03-04T23:58:29Z")
Yea lol i got it later. Srry android user ---
**Author:** ![abbecain](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/abbecain/32/320_2.png) [@abbecain](https://mpsocial.com/u/abbecain)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/15 "2017-03-07T15:58:15Z")
Hey @dddd Do we have an update on this experiment? ---
**Author:** ![dddd](https://mpsocial.com/user_avatar/mpsocial.com/dddd/32/11519_2.png) [@dddd](https://mpsocial.com/u/dddd)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://mpsocial.com/t/debunking-want-to-know-how-and-how-far-does-ig-crawl/7053/16 "2017-03-08T00:13:13Z")
I just did a hotjar test, but it’s always a hit or miss. It’s either they did not track me or that tracking is not 100%. And they only do it once. I’ll need to keep changing links to see if it tracks. A few things came to mind it’s either one of it : - no user is behind it (unless i’m running ads for that domain) - no user is behind it (i’m just deluded) - they don’t check every website (some authority ones like tumblr is excluded) - tracking is not 100% (due to tracker not firing) update: Did it on 2 domains, no user is recorded. So it’s either i was running ads at that time, or just deluded. But what remains is just their capability to parse js, so using js to redirect is out of the question. Good news though, you can use it with FB. In order to properly cloak, you will need IP based cloaker, as of now, the IP will 99% of the time point to FB. Someone mentioned using js cloaker to cloak based on browser size, though i don’t see how that’s even a thing. They have desktop and mobile useragent, so any identifier will not work. There is one more thing, you can use a bait and switch method. But that will not be discussed in public for obvious reasons. That’s it for now.