Have you wondered how ticket brokers are able to scoop up so many tickets so quickly while you hit “refresh” on your browser and resign yourself to sitting in the back row? They’re using automated “bots,” which are illegal in New York state. That’s why a handful of brokers have agreed to fork over millions of dollars to the state after being caught deploying ticket-buying bots and selling tickets without a license. [More]
bots
Report: Amazon Blocked Walmart’s Shopping Bots From Getting Pricing Data
By 5.10.17
In the crowded arena of online shopping, speed is of the essence if you want to keep up with your competitors’ prices: If you aren’t quick enough, your rival could undercut you. A new report claims that Walmart is trying its hardest to automatically track Amazon’s prices, but it’s not having much luck. [More]
Brands Can Message Ads At You On Facebook If You Message Them First
By 11.9.16
Do you like Facebook Messenger because you get messages and chats from people you actually know, and you don’t get a lot of ads or solicitations from brands or companies you’ve made purchases from in the past? Yeah, about that. Brands are about to start blasting out messages into Facebook users’ feeds, and the only way around it is to not contact them through Facebook. [More]
Twitter Launching Direct Message Bot Feature To Help Companies With Customer Service
By 11.1.16
There are some customer service situations where you might want to talk to a human about your problem in detail, but in others, communicating with a preprogrammed robot may resolve an issue more quickly. For those cases, Twitter is introducing a chatbot that companies can use to talk to customers via the platforms Direct Messages feature. [More]
You Can Now Order Domino’s Pizza Through A Facebook Messenger Bot
By 9.15.16
After successfully launching a Facebook messenger chatbot in the UK and Ireland that takes customers’ pizza orders, Domino’s is now making the feature available stateside. [More]
How Scalpers Make More Money Off Broadway’s ‘Hamilton’ Than The Show’s Producers
By 7.29.16
There’s good news for impatient theater fans who want to see the hit Broadway show “Hamilton.” After ticket prices peaked between this year’s Tony awards on June 12 and the departure of some original cast members a month later, they’ve now plummeted… to only about six to ten times their original face value. [More]
As Expected, Robots Are Taking Over Call Center Jobs
By 6.21.16
Instead of talking to customer service representatives who adhere to scripts in a robotic manner, soon we might be talking and chatting with customer service employees that are actual robots. While industry experts say that technology isn’t quite there yet, the companies that run outsourced call centers, including offshore ones are already worried about having their jobs outsourced altogether to machines. [More]
Comcast User’s Bot Tweets At Comcast Whenever His Internet Speed Gets Too Slow
By 2.1.16
Just because you pay for a certain internet speed doesn’t mean you get it all the time. That’s just a sad fact of life: those speeds are an “up to” promise, not a “minimum guarantee” promise. But just how often is a lapse below a certain threshold acceptable? And given that internet speeds are variable, how would you make sure your provider knows? [More]
Everyone Hates Bots: They’re To Blame For $1.5 Billion In Wasted Advertising Spending
By 10.1.12
How annoying is it when you see that you’ve got a new Twitter follower or a reply (“I bet someone loved that last clever bon mot I sent into the Internetz!”) only to have it turn out to be a bot telling you to click on some link to get new followers? It stinks, and I’m pretty sure no one likes bots. Especially not online advertisers, who reportedly lose around $1.5 billion every year in ad spending because of such software bots. [More]
Now Report Spammers On Twitter With A Single Click
By 10.13.09
It used to be that when you were followed by a spammer on Twitter, you had to go report them by sending a direct message to Twitter’s official spam account. Now they’ve updated their reporting system, so all it takes is a single click. Have fun turning in the bots!
Microsoft Goes After Malicious Ad Suppliers
By 9.18.09
If you visited the New York Times website last week, you may have been surprised to have your browsing interrupted by one of those scammy “we’re scanning your computer for viruses OH NO YOU HAVE A VIRUS!” ads that overtake your window. Now Microsoft has filed 5 lawsuits in an attempt to fight back against the jerks who may have been responsible for it, and certainly for other ads like it all over the web.
Why Is Spam Around? Because 12% Of Readers Actually Try To Buy The Stuff
By 7.17.09
Why, in a rational world, does spam continue to exist? Because someone you know—or maybe it’s you—has actually tried to buy something from it, a new study finds. Find that person and beat him (or yourself) with a stapler.
CareerBuilder's Free Resume Review Is Bot-Driven Junk
By 3.7.09
Sometimes”‘free” means “wow what a great bargain,” and sometimes it just mean worthless. CareerBuilder offers a free resume review on their site—enter your email address, upload your resume, and “we’ll email you the results of your free evaluation, including tips on writing a resume that will help you land the interview.” All it really does is collect your address so it can send you unsolicited email (we got spammed 30 minutes later), and your “review” is just a boilerplate page of generic advice.
Don’t Buy From an Ebay Scam Bot
By 8.2.06
Savvy Ebay shoppers look at a seller’s satisfaction rating, but it takes more than a glance.
Google Hates Public Library’s Blog
By 4.3.06
- “I read with amusement your recent piece on the rapid resolution of the google blog deletion, since of course blogger kills blogs every day (just browse the blogger support google group for head counts). One of the kill tactics that is especially swell is their spambot. Now I have no sympathy for true splogs and I appreciate that they’re trying to combat this. But as our small public library just found out, spam isn’t all they’re killing.”
