Internet trolls are bad enough. Social media bots have done everything from promoting fake news online to creating entire movements. Congressional investigations and revised policies for users on most social media platforms have been taken place, however, the bots continue to find ways. Online bots are like typical criminal behavior. As policing becomes more effective at stopping one form of illegal activity, the criminals look for other ways to exploit people to achieve similar results. Law enforcement is largely placed in a reactionary role to whatever criminals dream up next.
How much of the internet do you think is real? By that I mean, what percentage of users and online traffic are actual humans doing stuff? According to the latest study by Distil Networks, the answer is 62.1%. This shows that nearly 38% of all online traffic is driven by programmed bots. Bots that determine search results. Bots that drive up online advertising costs for businesses. Bots that can lead you to believe that certain sources and sites are credible when they’re not.
In 2016, nearly 52% of internet traffic was driven by bots. So, the good news is we’ve made progress. But consider how much emphasis over the past three years has been placed on combating this problem for still 38% of the internet to be bogus? A word to the wise, if you’re advertising online, you should really drill down to see what you’re paying for. If you’re not familiar with a particular service or website, you should be as careful as ever about patronizing it. Where there’s money involved there are always bad actors involved. It’s weird to think that so much of what happens online isn’t even real.
Photo by: Getty Images