In 2018, humans still accounted for 62% of web traffic, with malicious bots at 20% and benign bots at 18%.
But over the past seven years, the balance of web traffic has shifted. Humans now represent less than half of all traffic (49% in 2024), while malicious bots have surged to 37%, accounting for well over twice the traffic of benign bots (14%).
Bad bots are used to steal login details, collect sensitive data, spread misinformation and manipulate online ads.
As AI and machine learning make bots more sophisticated, their growing share of web traffic is likely to remain a defining trend in the years ahead.
