February 23, 2018 Read
What are Website Robots, Crawlers or Spiders, and Their Types?
What Are Web Robots?
Whenever we hear the term ‘Robot’, most of us think of hardware robots—machines programmed to replace humans in performing tasks. But what about robots on websites?
Web robots, also called web crawlers or web bots, are software programs that navigate websites and perform automated tasks. They handle tedious processes quickly, often faster than humans. Some web bots, like Facebook refresh bots, update newsfeeds, while others, such as Googlebots, determine how websites rank in search results.
Web bots communicate with multiple web applications and process large amounts of data efficiently. Developers create them using scripting languages such as Perl, Python, C, and PHP. Using these scripts, web bots can scan websites, index content, and perform other specialized tasks. However, some bots carry out malicious activities, allowing hackers to exploit websites or applications.
Types of Web Robots
Web bots fall into two main categories: legitimate robots and malicious robots.
Legitimate Robots
Legitimate web bots perform necessary, repetitive tasks, saving human effort. They include:
Spider Web Robots: Search engines use these bots to analyze web pages for content, relevance, and links. Google uses such bots (Googlebots) to index and rank websites.
Trading Web Robots: These bots scan online auction sites to find the best deals. For example, Trivago uses trading bots to show the best hotel prices.
Media Web Robots: These bots provide updates like news, weather, sports scores, and currency exchange rates. Messaging apps like eBuddy and IMO also use these bots to filter content.
Malicious Robots
Hackers deploy malicious bots to exploit or disrupt websites. They include:
Spam Web Robots: Collect information from online forms and send unwanted promotional content via email or pop-ups.
Hacker Web Robots: Scan websites to find vulnerabilities and exploit them.
Botnets: Networks of compromised computers (zombie PCs) used to launch attacks, such as denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
Download Web Robots: Redirect users to unwanted web pages, often tricking them into downloading specific content.
Why Web Robots Matter
Web robots drive a significant portion of web activity. Many website visitors are actually bots, not humans. This is why sites often require verification, such as CAPTCHAs, to ensure a human is interacting with the page.
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