For the first time, bots send more web traffic than people do. Here is what bots are, why AI agents are behind the jump, and what it means for you.
Bots Now Outnumber Humans on the Internet. Here’s What That Means
Here is a surprising fact: there are now more bots than humans online. That was the focus of an NPR report on October 26 that asked whether bots and people can share the internet peacefully.
What Is a Bot?
A bot is a computer program that does jobs automatically. Some bots are helpful, like ones that organize search results. Newer “AI agents” are bots that can browse websites and complete tasks for you.
What Are the Numbers?
Earlier this year, Cloudflare, a company that helps run and protect websites, measured the traffic. Computing reports that automated systems made up 57.5% of web requests, compared with 42.5% from humans. Cloudflare’s CEO, Matthew Prince, wrote, “Welp, that happened faster than I predicted.”
Why Did It Happen So Fast?
The reason is AI agents. TechSpot says this kind of traffic can look more like a person using the web, only much faster and on a much bigger scale. eMarketer reports that Prince explained it this way: a person might visit five websites to finish a task, but an agent could visit a thousand times more.
Do Humans Still Matter Online?
Yes. TechSpot notes that people still account for most of the time spent watching videos, scrolling feeds, posting, and shopping online. Bots may send more requests, but humans still spend more time on the internet.
Why Should You Care?
Websites pay for every visit, even a visit from a bot. That can be a problem for sites that make money from real readers. Hello Partner reports that Prince has suggested charging bots for access, which he said could make the internet free for humans again.
The big takeaway is that the internet is changing. More of it is being read by machines, and that will shape how websites are built and paid for.
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