Cloudflare Launches Free Tool to Block AI Bots from Scraping Websites

July 04, 2024 at 4:11:33 AM

TL;DR Cloudflare has launched a free tool to prevent bots from scraping websites for AI model training. Despite some AI vendors allowing site owners to block bots via robots.txt, not all bots comply. Cloudflare's tool uses advanced detection models to identify and block evasive AI bots. The tool is available to all customers, including those on the free tier. AI bots like Bytespider and GPTBot are among the most active and frequently blocked.

Cloudflare Launches Free Tool to Block AI Bots from Scraping Websites

Cloudflare has introduced a new, free tool to prevent bots from scraping websites for data to train AI models. This tool is designed to address the issue of AI scrapers that do not respect the robots.txt file, which traditionally tells bots which pages they can access.

Key Features and Functionality

  • Bot Detection Models: Cloudflare has fine-tuned automatic bot detection models by analyzing AI bot and crawler traffic. These models can identify bots that mimic the appearance and behavior of legitimate users.
  • Easy Blocking: A new "easy button" allows customers to block all AI bots with a single click. This feature is available to all customers, including those on the free tier.
  • Continuous Updates: The tool will be updated over time to recognize new bot fingerprints as they are identified.

AI Bot Activity

  • Popular AI Bots: The most active AI bots on Cloudflare’s network include Bytespider, Amazonbot, ClaudeBot, and GPTBot. Bytespider, operated by ByteDance, leads in request volume and is frequently blocked.
  • Blocking Trends: Although AI bots accessed around 39% of the top one million Internet properties using Cloudflare, only 2.98% of these properties took measures to block or challenge those requests. Higher-ranked properties are more likely to block AI bots. AI Bot Activity

Detection and Prevention

  • Spoofed User Agents: Cloudflare’s machine learning models can detect bots that use spoofed user agents to appear as legitimate browsers. These models score traffic to identify likely bot activity.
  • Global Signals: Cloudflare uses global signals from its network, which sees over 57 million requests per second, to trust and flag bot fingerprints accurately.

Cloudflare’s new tool is a robust solution for website owners to protect their content from unauthorized AI scraping. By leveraging advanced detection models and providing easy-to-use blocking features, Cloudflare helps maintain a secure and fair Internet environment for content creators.

Have more questions on this topic? Ask our AI assistant for in-depth insights.

Read more from sources 👇

The Only Digital Marketing Feed You'll Ever Need.

Stay informed your way. Tailored updates when and how you want them. 100% Free.

10,000+ Users

500+ Sources

1000+ Tools

Or

Related Posts

Google Emphasizes HTTP Caching Importance for Efficient Web Crawling

Google Emphasizes HTTP Caching Importance for Efficient Web Crawling

Google Search Central
Google Search Central

Official Source

Official Source

Google Search Central is a Official Source. The source has been verified by Swipe Insight team.

Official Source
Google Clarifies How Robots.txt Works for Managing Website Crawling

Google Clarifies How Robots.txt Works for Managing Website Crawling

Amazon Unveils Nova, New Family of Multimodal AI Models Trending ️‍🔥

Amazon Unveils Nova, New Family of Multimodal AI Models

About Amazon
About Amazon

Official Source

Official Source

About Amazon is a Official Source. The source has been verified by Swipe Insight team.

Official Source
Tired of spending too much time creating audits for your clients?

Tired of spending too much time creating audits for your clients?

Featured
Meta Introduces Andromeda: Next-Generation AI Retrieval System for Advertising

Meta Introduces Andromeda: Next-Generation AI Retrieval System for Advertising

Meta
Meta

Official Source

Official Source

Meta is a Official Source. The source has been verified by Swipe Insight team.

Official Source
Google Chrome Site Engagement Metrics Framework Assesses User Interaction and Browsing Trending ️‍🔥

Google Chrome Site Engagement Metrics Framework Assesses User Interaction and Browsing

ElevenLabs Launches GenFM for AI-Generated Podcasts from Various Content

ElevenLabs Launches GenFM for AI-Generated Podcasts from Various Content

ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs

Official Source

Official Source

ElevenLabs is a Official Source. The source has been verified by Swipe Insight team.

Official Source
ElevenLabs Launches Conversational AI Agents

ElevenLabs Launches Conversational AI Agents

ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs

Official Source

Official Source

ElevenLabs is a Official Source. The source has been verified by Swipe Insight team.

Official Source

Related Tools

Marketing Auditor logo

Marketing Auditor

Verified Tool

Verified Tool

Marketing Auditor is a Verified Tool. Want to get this badge? Contact us.

Verified Tool

Automated audits for Google Ads and Analytics.

Get Featured Here

Showcase your tool in this list.

Contact Us
Lighthouse logo

Lighthouse

Automated insights for web performance and SEO

SEO
Surfer SEO logo

Surfer SEO

SEO content creation and optimization made easy

SEO
Sitebulb logo

Sitebulb

Efficient website crawler for better SEO audits

SEO
Answer the Public logo

Answer the Public

Unlock Consumer Insights for Content Creation

SEO
SEO Writing AI logo

SEO Writing AI

AI-powered SEO content in 1 click

SEO
Thunderbit logo

Thunderbit

No-code AI apps and automations for business users

Workflow Automation
GTmetrix logo

GTmetrix

Analyze and optimize your website performance

SEO
Lumanu logo

Lumanu

Streamline influencer payments and compliance

Influencer Marketing
CanIRank logo

CanIRank

AI-driven SEO insights and action recommendations

SEO

Get Featured Here

Showcase your tool in this list.

Contact Us