Internet bots, also known as web robots, WWW robots or simply bots, are software applications that run automated tasks over the internet. Typically, bots perform tasks that are both simple and structurally repetitive, at a much higher rate than would be possible for a human editor alone. The largest use of bots is in web spidering, in which an automated script fetches, analyses and files information from web servers at many times the speed of a human. Each server can have a file called robots.txt, containing rules for the spidering of that server that the bot is supposed to obey. A web crawler (also known as a Web spider or Web robot) is a program or automated script which browses the World Wide Web in a methodical, automated manner. ...

In addition to their uses outlined above, bots may also be implemented where a response speed faster than that of humans is required (e.g., gaming bots and auction-site robots) or less commonly in situations where the emulation of human activity is required, for example chat bots.

Bots are also being used as organization and content access applications for media delivery. Webot.com is one recent example of utilizing bots to deliver personal media across the web from multiple sources. In this case the bots track content updates on host computers and deliver live streaming access to a browser based logged in user.

IM and IRC

Some bots communicate with other users of Internet-based services, via instant messaging (IM), Internet Relay Chat (IRC), or another web interface. These chatterbots may allow people to ask questions in plain English and then formulate a proper response. These bots can often handle many tasks, including reporting weather, zip-code information, sports scores, converting currency or other units, etc. Others are used for entertainment, such as SmarterChild on AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger and Jabberwacky on Yahoo! Messenger. Another popular AIM bot is FriendBot // Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. ... “IRC” redirects here. ... A chatterbot is a computer program designed to simulate an intelligent conversation with one or more human users via auditory or textual methods. ... SmarterChild Mascot SmarterChild is a chatterbot available on the AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger networks. ... AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) is an advertisement-supported proprietary freeware instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol. ... MSN Messenger is a freeware instant messaging client that was developed and distributed by Microsoft between 1999 and 2005 for computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, and aimed towards home users. ... Jabberwacky is a chatterbot created by British programmer Rollo Carpenter. ... “Y!M” redirects here. ...

An additional role of IRC bots may be to lurk in the background of a conversation channel, commenting on certain phrases uttered by the participants (based on pattern matching). This is sometimes used as a help service for new users, or for censorship of profanity. An IRC bot performing a simple task. ... In computer science, pattern matching is the act of checking for the presence of the constituents of a given pattern. ... Look up Profanity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

AOL Instant Messenger has now introduced a feature that allows you to make a screen name into a bot. This new feature removes the rate limit on the screen name, however it is now limited in the amount of instant messages that can be sent and received. AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) is an advertisement-supported proprietary freeware instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol. ... An instant messenger is a computer application which allows instant text communication between two or more people through a network such as the Internet. ...

Commercial purposes

There has been a great deal of controversy about the use of bots in an automated trading function. Auction website eBay has been to court in an attempt to suppress a third-party company from using bots to traverse their site looking for bargains; this approach backfired on eBay and attracted the attention of further bots. The United Kingdom-based bet exchange Betfair saw such a large amount of traffic coming from bots they launched a WebService API aimed at bot programmers through which Betfair can actively manage bot interactions. This article is about the online auction center. ... A betting exchange is a p2p gambling website acting as a broker between parties for the placement of bets. ... Betfair Logo Betfair is the worlds largest Internet betting exchange. ...

Malicious purposes

Another, more malicious use of bots is the coordination and operation of an automated attack on networked computers, such as a denial-of-service attack. (see botnet) Internet bots can also be used to commit click fraud and more recently have seen usage around MMORPG games as computer game bots. A spambot is an internet bot that attempts to spam large amounts of content on the Internet, usually adding advertising links. DoS redirects here. ... Botnet is a jargon term for a collection of software robots, or bots, which run autonomously. ... Click fraud is a type of internet crime that occurs in pay per click online advertising when a person, automated script, or computer program imitates a legitimate user of a web browser clicking on an ad, for the purpose of generating a charge per click without having actual interest in... An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ... Contrast with aimbot, a type of software that is used to cheat in multiplayer games A bot, most prominently in the first person shooter PC game types (FPS), is a robotic computer controlled entity that simulates an online or LAN multiplayer human deathmatch opponent, team deathmatch opponent or a cooperative... This article is about electronic spam. ...

• There are malicious bots (and botnets) of the following types:

1. Spambots that harvest email addresses from contact forms or guestbook pages
2. Downloader programs that suck bandwidth by downloading entire web sites
3. Web site scrapers that grab the content of web sites and re-use it without permission on automatically generated doorway pages
4. Viruses and worms
5. DDoS attacks
6. Botnets / zombie computers; etc.

• Bots are also used to buy up good seats for concerts, particularly by ticket brokers who resell the tickets. Bots are employed against entertainment event-ticketing sites, like TicketMaster.com. The bots are used by ticket brokers to unfairly obtain the best seats for themselves while depriving the general public from also having a chance to obtain the good seats. The bot runs through the purchase process and obtains better seats by pulling as many seats back as it can.
• Bots are often used in Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games to farm for resources that would otherwise take significant time or effort to obtain; this is a concern to most online in-game economies.

This article needs cleanup. ... DoS redirects here. ... This article needs cleanup. ... A zombie computer (abbreviated zombie) is a computer attached to the Internet that has a hidden software program or backdoor. ... An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ...

Bots in popular culture

See Boten Anna. Boten Anna (Anna, the bot) is a song by Swedish dance musician BassHunter, which appears on his second studio album LOL <(^^,)>. Due to the song, BassHunter became a noted artist in his native Sweden, as well as Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Poland and the Netherlands after the release of the...

External links

• Individual bots
  • AOL Instant Messenger: Resourcebot
  • InsideMessenger
  • Alicebot
  • Jabberwacky
  • Jeeney
  • Incognita - Articifial Intelligence Conversationalist
  • SmarterChild bot
  • LittleGreenBulb bot
  • Spleak chat bot
  • WeBot

• Other bot-related links
  • Artificial Solutions
  • Lots-A-Bots
  • RunABot
  • Server and SDK for conversational bot development
  • Advanced Robots.txt Generator
  • Cyber-Surveillance and Internet Data-Mining
  • Humany