Bot-infested wasteland: Almost half of all 2022 web traffic came from bots

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A startling report reveals how much web traffic is comprised of bots, and the number is staggering.

The findings come from Imperva, a leader in the world of cyber security, and the report outlines what a bot is, what a “bad bot” is, and the amount of traffic bots contribute to the world wide web.

Nearly half, or 47.2%, of ALL internet traffic in 2022 was automated traffic, which Imperva says is also commonly known as bots. That number represents a big jump from 2021, when 42.3% of traffic was from bots. Of that traffic, 30.2% was from bad bots. A bad bot is a software application running tasks “with malicious intent.”

These bots are also the ones that are used for scalping. Others might have nefarious tasks like fraud or theft.

While human traffic was still the majority of all internet traffic in 2022, there were periods when bot traffic took over.

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For example, in March 2022, human traffic was 49.3%, slightly less than half of all internet traffic. At this point, bad bot traffic peaked at 35.3%.

Imperva has been doing the bad bot report for 10 years. In 2013, bad bots accounted for 23.6% of traffic, good bots for 19.4%, and human traffic for 57%.

One of the issues that Imperva outlines is that bad bots are now more sophisticated than they’ve ever been.

Imperva also notes which industries are most heavily impacted by bad bots.

Imperva

America is the top country targeted by bad bots, followed by Australia and the UK.

In Canada, 21.8% of traffic in 2022 was from bad bots, as the country fared pretty well compared to other nations.

Imperva also says that legal and government industries are the most widely targeted by more advanced bots.

One of the ways Imperva suggests you can safeguard yourself is to ensure your web browsers are always up to date.

For the full report, click here.