AI Bots Are Taking Over 🤖🌐 - Warning!
AI
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The internet is undergoing a significant shift, according to a new report from TollBit. Analysis of web traffic reveals that AI-powered bots now account for a notable share of visits, rising from approximately one in every 200 website visits in the first three months of 2025 to one in every 50 in the preceding period. This increase coincides with a dramatic rise in training-related bot traffic and a corresponding surge in attempts by website owners to block these automated visitors. Techniques used by these bots are becoming increasingly sophisticated, mimicking human browsing behavior, and triggering a 400 percent increase in website attempts to block them. Companies like TollBit and Cloudflare are offering tools to address this growing challenge, reflecting a broader trend of AI-powered search engines driving demand for automated content access. The evolving dynamic necessitates a new approach to machine-to-machine exchange of value, impacting publishers and fundamentally altering the landscape of online traffic.
THE BOT UPRISING
The internet is facing a fundamental shift, driven by autonomous AI bots that threaten to dominate online traffic. A new report reveals a growing arms race as bots deploy sophisticated tactics to bypass website defenses.
WEB SCRAPING RISING
AI-powered bots are increasingly used to retrieve real-time information from the web, augmenting AI outputs with data like product prices and news summaries. Training-related bot traffic has risen steadily since last July, alongside activity from bots fetching web content for AI agents.
A WEB IN TRANSITION
Robert Blumofe, Akamai’s chief technology officer, states that AI is fundamentally changing the web, and the ensuing “arms race” will determine the web’s future functionality and business operations. By 2025, TollBit estimates one in 50 website visits will be from an AI scraping bot.
DEFENDING AGAINST THE INVASION
Website owners are struggling to control the surge of AI scrapers, with a 400% increase in attempts to block them over the past year. Bots disguise themselves as normal web browsers or mimic human interactions, making their traffic nearly indistinguishable from genuine user traffic.
TOOLS FOR PROTECTION
Companies like TollBit and Cloudflare offer tools for website owners to charge AI scrapers for accessing their content. These tools aim to manage the escalating demand for web content among AI agents.
NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
The web-scraping wars are generating new business opportunities, with over 40 companies now marketing bots for AI training and content collection. Generative engine optimization (GEO) is emerging as a key strategy, helping companies surface content for AI agents in areas like search, ads, and media.
This article is AI-synthesized from public sources and may not reflect original reporting.