Nine Facts You Might Not Know About Bot Traffic
Bad Bots Are Rising
The report’s data indicated malicious bots account for 29% of all Website visits. Of those: 22% are impersonators, 3.5% are hacking tools, 3% are scrapers, 0.5% are spammers
Size Doesn’t Matter
Regardless of a site’s size, one-third of its traffic is from bots. For most sites, bot traffic is between 63% and 80%. Small Sites (1,000 visitors per day): 80% percent bots, Medium Sites (10,000 visitors per day): 63% bots, Large Sites (100,000 visitors per day): 56% bots
Absolute Average of Daily Visitors Is Unclear
It’s difficult to say what the absolute average number of daily visitors is, but most Websites get fewer than 10,000 visits per day.
Impersonator Bots Are the Only Ones to Grow
The most advanced malicious bots–impersonator bots–are increasing. They are the only group of bots that consistently grew in the last three years since the survey began.
Impersonator Bots Are Rising
Impersonator bots’ volume increased by 10% last year and by 15% since 2012. They are created by very experienced hackers and are designed increasingly for stealth.
Types of Impersonator Bots
Impersonator bots include:, Fake search engine bots, Bots with browser-like capabilities, DDoS bots, Bots masked by proxy servers
RSS Bot Activity Declines
Most of the decline in bot traffic is due to good bot activity, especially those associated with RSS services. This was not due to the shutdown of Google Reader; RSS bot activity declined across the board.
Googlebots Do Not Play Favorites
Googlebots crawl indiscriminately and with predetermined frequency regardless of a Website’s popularity. Result: smaller Websites receive a disproportionate percent of bot visitors (80%) compared to human visitors.
Bots and Your Bottom Line
How are bots affecting bandwidth consumption and your bottom line? You can save money with better bot filtering practices in addition to better client site security.
