"Spiderwebs" received positive reviews from contemporary as well as past critics, who frequently called it as one of the defining songs for No Doubt.

The song failed to attain top-ten positions but charted within the top 40 in Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Following the bouquet toss, the party is disrupted by a large number of wireline telephones that fly into the room and begin trapping the partygoers.

"[7] No commercial editions were distributed in the United States;[8] however, a promotional CD single was created and sent to radio stations in that country.

[9] The Australian CD maxi single featured the album and live versions of "Spiderwebs", the music video for "Just a Girl", and a cover of Bad Brains's "Sailin' On", written by Darryl Jenifer and Dr.

He also wrote that it correlates well to the lyrical themes of Tragic Kingdom, in which "No Doubt depicts flawed people and relationships breaking under the test of stress".

[15] In a modern review of Tragic Kingdom, Nick Levine from Noisey wrote that "'Spiderwebs' is essentially Destiny Child's 'Bug a Boo' for the pre-cellphone era".

[4] According to the liner notes for No Doubt's 2003 greatest hits album, The Singles 1992–2003, Stefani was inspired to write "Spiderwebs" after a lonesome admirer of hers had stood outside her window reading poetry for her attention.

[19] Entertainment Weekly's David Browne said that with "Spiderwebs" and Tragic Kingdom album track "End It on This", the lyrics have Stefani "acknowledg[ing her] obsessions with losers and decides to break free" from them.

[20] During the song's refrain, Stefani sings with a "semi angry scrowl": "Sorry I'm not home right now / I'm walking into spiderwebs / So leave a message and I'll call you back.

"[21] In addition to several other tracks from Tragic Kingdom, Noisey's Nick Levine praised "Spiderwebs" for having a chorus "that will bounce round [sic] your brain for days".

Alex McCown felt that No Doubt "found a musical sweet spot" with "Spiderwebs", calling it one of the catchiest songs on the album.

[14] In a 2016 readers' poll compiled by Rolling Stone magazine, "Spiderwebs" was voted as Stefani's fifth-best song of all time.

However, as an album cut, and later as a promotional CD single, it received heavy airplay on alternative and mainstream pop radio stations, resulting in appearances in several other Billboard charts.

[26] In March 2021, the Recording Industry Association of America certified "Spiderwebs" platinum for combined sales and streaming figures of 1,000,000 units.

"Spiderwebs" was the fourth consecutive top 40 entry from Tragic Kingdom to appear on the Official Singles Chart, succeeding "Don't Speak" and the original and reissued versions of "Just a Girl".

According to the Official Charts Company, "Spiderwebs" is No Doubt's sixth-biggest song and Gwen Stefani's 14th-biggest selling combined.

As a result, the video cuts to a black-and-white sequence where wireline telephones knock down the large windows in the room and begin wrapping around No Doubt and the wedding patrons and trapping them.

Much's Allison Bowsher analyzed her appearance: "Combining elements of femininity and masculinity in her look and performance, Stefani was unabashedly original.

It was the second time the group appeared on the show within the same year, previously performing "Just a Girl" during the March 28th episode; the band remarked that a "mutual admiration [had been] established" between No Doubt and David Letterman.

[48] Stefani's look during the promotional campaign for the concert series mimics her looks from the music video for "Spiderwebs"; she wears a tank top stylized with her name in black, sports red lipstick, and her signature platinum blonde hair.

[52] At the June 6, 2015 show of Kenny Chesney's The Big Revival Tour, supporting artist Miranda Lambert performed a surprise cover of "Spiderwebs".