DataDome report finds bad bot traffic growing 9x faster than human traffic, with 7.9B AI agent requests recorded in early 2026
DataDome published a report showing bad bot traffic is accelerating at 9 times the rate of human web traffic, logging 7.9 billion AI agent requests and highlighting widespread spoofing and visibility gaps.
Briefing
- DataDome: DataDome published a report showing bad bot traffic is accelerating at 9 times the rate of human web traffic, logging 7.9 billion AI agent requests and highlighting widespread spoofing and visibility gaps.
Why it matters
The sheer volume of AI agent requests underscores how automated scraping and bot-driven traffic are overwhelming traditional detection methods. Widespread spoofing means organizations cannot rely on user-agent strings alone, forcing a shift toward behavioral analysis and fingerprinting. Visibility gaps leave even protected sites blind to sophisticated bots, raising the stakes for anti-bot vendors and the teams that depend on them.
Sources
- Primary source · DataDome · 2026-09-23 — Bad Bot Traffic is Growing 9x Faster Than Human Web Traffic
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