Bot management is identifying and controlling bot traffic to a website or application. It ensures that useful bots, such as those that help search engines index websites, are allowed access, while harmful or unwanted bots are blocked. Bot management is important because bots can significantly disrupt web services if left unchecked. Look here also bot management solutions for websites
Bots are automated programs that can perform a wide range of tasks online. They don’t operate like humans, who use web browsers to click on links and navigate through pages. Instead, bots interact directly with web servers, sending requests to perform certain actions. Some bots, like those used by search engines, are helpful. They scan the web, gathering information to keep search results up-to-date.
The challenge with bot management is telling the difference between good and bad bots. If a system blocks all bots, even helpful bots won’t be able to access the website, which could make the site harder to find on search engines. That’s why a good bot management system doesn’t block all bots but makes decisions based on each bot’s behaviour and reputation.
A bot manager is a software tool used to manage bots on a website. Its role is to let good bots through while blocking bad ones. This can be done by identifying patterns in how bots interact with the site. For example, good bots typically follow the rules set out in a file called “robots.txt,” which tells bots which parts of a website they are allowed to access. Bad bots, on the other hand, often ignore these rules. A bot manager might challenge visitors who seem suspicious by using tools like CAPTCHA, which requires users to prove they are human by solving simple puzzles, or by analysing how they behave on the website.
The manager can also identify bots based on their IP addresses, which are unique numbers assigned to devices on a network. Some IP addresses are known to be associated with bad bots, and the manager can block these. Good bots, on the other hand, may be placed on a special list called an allowlist, meaning they are trusted to access the website without any restrictions.
Bot management is necessary to prevent various types of attacks. Some bots can perform Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, overwhelming a website with traffic to make it unavailable to real users. Others may attempt to steal login details in a process called credential stuffing, where bots try different usernames and passwords to break into accounts.
To identify bad bots, some bot managers use a strategy called a “honeypot.” A honeypot is a fake page or resource that is off-limits to bots but placed in a way that bad bots might try to access it. When a bot accesses this honeypot, the bot manager can recognize it as malicious and block it from the website.
Overall, bot management is an essential tool for website owners who want to ensure their sites are protected from unwanted and harmful bot activity while still allowing good bots to perform their necessary functions.