Because I can't see a help or general forum can anyone tell me in the list of users why I'm seeing Google [bot] and Baidu [spider] more or less constantly - not sure I've noticed them so persistently before.

ZaphodB wrote:Because I can't see a help or general forum can anyone tell me in the list of users why I'm seeing Google [bot] and Baidu [spider] more or less constantly - not sure I've noticed them so persistently before.

Because that's how search engines are able to send you where you need to go. They must constantly send bots out to catalog everything on the web. When you type something you want found, they don't then go out and try to find it, they check from the catalog they've already made. So Google peeks in every so often to validate various pages, which in turn 'refreshes' its logged in status.

ZaphodB wrote:not sure I've noticed them so persistently before.

Yeah, they're always here.

M

The phpBB software proposes such bots as users. The Administrator of such a board is able to disable any that he/she does not want.
Not only do they allow the databank which they represent to be expanded, they also serve to promote the site visited.