User Agent Evaluation Logic

Self-reporting user agents can be identified through the user-agent string value in the request. Discover matches the values reported in this field to the values in the UserAgent field in the public standard Browscap.csv.

If matches are found, then the following fields in the agent's Browscap.csv record are evaluated:

  • Crawler
  • SyndicationReader
  • MobileDevice

Possible values for the above fields are the following:

  • TRUE
  • FALSE

The evaluation logic is as follows:

  • If MobileDevice=true, then the user agent is identified as a mobile device.
  • If Crawler=true AND MobileDevice=true, then the user agent is identified as a mobile_bot by Discover.
  • If Crawler=true OR SyndicationReader=true, then the user agent is identified as a bot by Discover.
  • Otherwise, the user agent is identified as browser.
  • If the field is set to UNKNOWN, no data could be found for the UserAgent in any of the files. Session data from these user agents should be examined.
Note: The above information also applies to entries in the UserCap.csv file.