API request authorization failed. Google Cloud 35.213.170.208 attempting to login as a WordPress admin. I’m trying to determine if this is a “bad actor/bot” or a “good bot”, for example, from a Google-related service for page indexing or reCAPTCHA anti-spam security.
My client’s website recently experienced a “blocked” Google bots inside the robots.txt file. This may’ve attributed to recent page indexing and Google Ads-related issues.
I am not aware of any service that requires a Google cloud server to log in as a WordPress user. Instead, this activity could be triggered by a faulty link, which, when followed, attempts to authenticate a user with some code (e.g. plugin) on your site. A Google bot can follow this link, which is why you see the event in the log.
Neither website indexing nor reCAPTCHA anti-spam require logging into your website.