Navigating Meta’s Web Scraping: A Creative Defense
In March 2025, I discovered that Meta’s web crawler, meta-externalagent/1.1, was bombarding my blog with excessive requests. Here’s how I creatively managed the situation:
- Initial Discovery: Noticed high request rates from Meta’s crawler.
- Immediate Action: Implemented a PHP program to deliver faux content via a custom script, bork.php.
- Apache Modifications: Adjusted the web server settings to reroute Meta’s requests effectively.
- Traffic Surge: Meta’s crawling skyrocketed, hitting 270,000 URLs in just a few days.
After three months, I switched tactics to deny service with a 404 status, provoking a response from Meta. This led to intriguing patterns in requested URLs and highlighted the ethical challenges surrounding AI training.
Key Takeaways:
- Be proactive against invasive scraping.
- Understand the potential impact on web server resources.
- Consider crafting unique defenses for AI scrapers.
Join the conversation! Share your thoughts or experiences with web scrapers in the comments below!
