For publishers

Owlester shows readers how different news outlets cover the same story, and links them to the original articles. If you saw Owlester in your server logs, this page explains what we do and how to tell us to stop.

Every request our servers make to your site carries this name:

We never present ourselves as a web browser.

We read public RSS feeds and public pages: section pages and articles. We never read anything behind a paywall or a login.

Before reading any page, we check your site's robots.txt. We follow the rules you set for Owlester; if there are none, we follow your rules for all crawlers (*). We read your robots.txt again at least once every 24 hours.

• Your headline and your outlet's name
• A link to your article and when it was published
• A short summary written by us, in our own words
• The preview image your page provides for link sharing, where available

We use the text of your articles only to understand the story and write our own summary. From October 2026, article text we collect automatically is deleted 14 days after we read it. We keep your headline, the link and the publication time.

Add this to your robots.txt:

We stop reading your site within 24 hours. To have existing stories that link to your site removed, or to talk about corrections, partnerships or licensing, email contact@owlester.com.

contact@owlester.com