Bot farms: how the digital «influence machines» work, how to recognise them and protect yourself from them

How does the bot farm work?

The word «bot farm» sounds somewhat funny, but there is an entire industry behind it. In the classic version, a bot farm is an organization that creates a large number of fake accounts. Its employees manage these fictitious profiles, publish posts and comments on behalf of non-existent persons, simulating real online activity. As a result of such activity, the income of large bot farms can reach tens of thousands of dollars per month or more.

From the outside, everything looks like normal user activity — comments, reposts, likes. In fact, these «users» are controlled by one script or a group of operators who know when and what to publish.

Modern bot farms do not necessarily consist of real computers. Often these are virtual servers where hundreds of fake profiles from different countries are launched. Some of them operate completely automatically, and some are under the control of people who «amplify» the necessary messages. This creates the impression of a mass opinion, although in fact only a few dozen people support it.

Popular platforms where you can meet bots

Bot farms work on different platforms, and the types of bots are often selected for specific audiences and goals:

● Social networks.

Here, the activity of bots can look almost like the behavior of real users. Social, political and long-term bots like posts, leave comments and subscribe to accounts. Their main goal is to increase the popularity of accounts, brands or products and create the illusion of mass support or popularity. For example, on Instagram or X/Twitter, bots are often bought to quickly increase the number of followers and comments under posts to promote a brand or a public face.

● Streaming platforms (Twitch, YouTube).

On streaming platforms such as Twitch or YouTube, bots are used to artificially increase video views or broadcasts. Viewing bots allow channels to create the impression of a large audience, which helps attract advertisers and increase the popularity of content. This is especially beneficial for bloggers whose income depends on the number of views and audience activity.

● Advertising platforms and banners (PPC, contextual advertising).

On advertising platforms, bots often act as fraudulent clickers that click on banners or contextual advertising. SEO bots and click bots help increase the income of site owners, while reducing the effectiveness of competitors' advertising campaigns. In some cases, up to 60% of clicks in PPC campaigns can be created by bots, artificially inflating the indicators.

● Websites and forums.

On websites and forums, bots work mainly as SEO bots or social bots. They leave comments, create backlinks and generate additional traffic. Thanks to this, site owners can increase attendance, improve positions in search engines and earn money from advertising or «selling» traffic. For example, webmasters often buy bot traffic to accelerate the growth of the popularity of their resources.

How to recognize a bot

For ordinary users of social networks, it is important to learn to distinguish the profiles of real people from fake pages on Instagram or on other online platforms. Fake accounts can influence your thoughts, spread misinformation, or even be used as a target for cybercrime.

You can recognize a bot farm by several typical signs:

1. Profile and photo. Fake accounts often have a photo that is too perfect or, on the contrary, too cliched; little personal information; The name looks random or doesn't match the style of the posts.
2. Activity. Typical signals: the account was created recently, but it already has many comments; posts appear regularly, with equal intervals; the activity occurs at night without a visible pause, which is atypical for the average user.
3. Manner of communication. Bots often use clichéd phrases, detached from the topic, or simply «like» and post without substance. If you ask them a question, they don't answer, or they don't answer on the topic.

For businesses, media outlets, or any project with an online presence, fake activity is not only a matter of trust but also direct financial losses. Bot farms can distort statistics, reduce advertising effectiveness, and damage a brand's reputation. To avoid this, it's important to know the key signs of artificial traffic:

• A sharp increase in traffic without an obvious cause. If the number of visitors or clicks suddenly increases, but it's not related to new ads, publications, or seasonal trends, some of the traffic may be generated by bots.
• Abnormal user behavior. Short session durations and a lack of deep interaction (for example, no one clicks between pages or adds items to carts) may indicate inorganic activity.
• Suspicious referral sources. A large number of clicks from the same IP addresses, countries where you don't do business, or from unknown intermediary sites often indicate bot activity.
• Abnormal advertising statistics. If the CTR (click-through rate) is very high but there are no conversions, this could be due to manipulation.
• Similar comments or messages. On social media, bots often leave similar phrases, comments without context, and links to dubious resources.

Driven by technological advancements, bot farms are also evolving: they now use artificial intelligence to create realistic text, images, and even videos. Of course, this complicates the recognition of fake news and other bot-generated content. However, it doesn't make it impossible to detect disinformation.

In particular, specialized analytics tools can be used to verify the authenticity of social media audiences:

— Meta Business Suite (for Facebook);
— HypeAuditor (for Instagram);
— Telegram Analytics (for Telegram);
— X Analytics or Botometer X (for X/Twitter).

And services like ClickCease, TrafficGuard, or FraudScore help detect fake clicks and interactions on websites and in advertising campaigns.

How to protect yourself from fake activity online

Unfortunately, it's impossible to completely eliminate bots. But you can significantly reduce their impact on your audience, statistics, and budget. Here are some effective steps:

• Avoid engaging in dialogue with suspicious accounts. This only increases their reach.
• Use the reporting option on social media. More complaints lead to account blocking faster.
• Warn others. If you notice a suspicious account, write about it in the comments or contact the group/channel administrators.
• Use anti-bot protection. Use captcha and anti-spam filters (e.g., reCAPTCHA, Cloudflare) on websites. On social media, restrict comments or use pre-moderation.
• Block suspicious accounts and IP addresses. Regularly clean subscriber lists and ad campaign audiences.

Remember: the main filter is you. Critical thinking, attention to detail, and healthy skepticism work better than any algorithm. And don't forget to take care of your own cyber hygiene: keep your software up to date and pay attention to suspicious links and resources.

And Maxnet will ensure a reliable internet connection, ensuring pages load without delays and malicious resources don't have time «to intercept» requests. A stable, uninterrupted network not only ensures comfort but also protection from phishing.

So trust trusted sources, analyze information, and use a stable connection from Maxnet — then no bot farm will be able to manipulate your reality.