SEO Tip #127: Is Google Able To Crawl Protocols Other Than HTTP and HTTPS?
Matt Cutts: I believe the answer is yes. I believe we have support to crawl FTP but really that’s pretty far off the beaten path. So if at all possible I would try to make sure that your pages are HTTP or HTTPS.
We did build a crawler way back in the day with the support for multiple protocols so the ability to crawl everything from WML and WAP and stuff like that, if you’ve known about those types of markup language. But in general it’s usually best if you stick to the well-beaten path of HTTP or HTTPS.
About the Author
Andy Johnson has been on the Internet since the its dawn(ie his first computer program was recorded on cassette tape) and his first hard drive cost about as much his current MacBook. His first byline was in 1993 for a local newspaper rag he eventually helmed, and his last “real job” was at a computer start up which ended when it ended. Throughout it all he’s freelanced and blogged. Now he is mesmerized by Search Engine Optimization forever trying to “rise to the top” for the right reasons. He’s been married to his wife Julia for as long as he can remember and has two lovely, wonderful children. He looks forward to sharing the latest in the technical best for all the online entrepreneurs.