The saga continues…
Now a different Googlebot has hit the site (66.249.65.40 = [ crawl-66-249-65-40.googlebot.com ]) in addition to Googlebot 239 (the original and continuing attacker). Apparently Googlebot 239 wasn't good enough, so they send in Googlebot 40 to add to the pain.
I don't know what Google's problem is, but I have a few ideas.
(1) A complete disregard for problems they create.
(2) A lack of interest in responding to users in a timely manner.
(3) A belief that the problem is always with the user.
(4) A lack of any sense of urgency when dealing with problems they create.
(5) A corporate mentality that any cost to someone else is not their problem, even if they're generating the cost.
(6) The belief that, if you ignore the problem long enough, it will go away.
(7) The sense that their IPO was so successful that they're above reproach.
Shall I go on?
Well, Googlebot 40 and Googlebot 239 are, so why shouldn't I?
(8) A disinterest in customer service (or an interest in customer disservice).
(9) Projecting the problem onto the user is the best approach to problem management.
(10) The ten tenets of Google's business culture don't actually apply to Google, but they do apply to everyone else.
More than three days into this fiasco watching Googlebot 239 do whatever it is it's doing on my site leaves me to ponder whether anyone within Google actually cares, anyone who can make things happen, anyone who will actually listen and respond to problems like this.
Do you think they'll offer to pay me back for the bandwidth they took from me and that I will now have to pay for — above and beyond what I already pay for since they pushed me way over the edge? Do you think Google will try to determine what's wrong with their bot and fix it? Do you think Google will ever really be customer-service oriented instead of ignoring problems and people for days at a time in the hopes they'll just go away?
Your guess is as good as mine.
By the way, Googlebot 40 disappeared, but Googlebot 239 is still goin' strong.