John Mueller from Google recently addressed a question regarding hotlink protection during a LinkedIn discussion. He noted that while having hotlink protections with exceptions for search engines is acceptable, it has not been a common practice in recent years. Hotlink protection aims to manage bandwidth by preventing other websites from using your images, but advancements in infrastructure have diminished its significance since the 2010s. Moreover, there is a caution against cloaking in these practices, emphasizing that users and search engines should see the same content.
Google's John Mueller indicated that while hotlink protection with exceptions for search engines is acceptable, it's less common nowadays compared to the 2010s.
Mueller emphasized that hotlink protection may help reduce bandwidth used by websites but has become a less prominent issue in recent years.
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