Navigating the Complex World of AI Crawlers: A Reality Check for Publishers
Cloudflare recently stirred the pot with its AI crawler block, yet it overlooked two giants: Google and Apple. This highlights a pressing concern for the industry—control over AI scraping is far more complex than a mere toggle switch.
Key Insights:
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AI Scraping Reality:
- Robots.txt can’t guarantee control; blocking Google impacts SEO.
- 95% of AI crawler traffic comes from just three entities: Meta (52%), Google (23%), and OpenAI (20%).
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Fastly’s Approach:
- Partnerships to provide options, like charging bots instead of banning.
- Engagement with standards organizations to represent diverse customer needs.
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Importance of Edge Control:
- Fastly’s solutions operate at the network layer for real-time decision-making.
- Promotes transparency and accountability in AI bot operations.
In this evolving landscape, publishers must adapt to safeguard their content without sacrificing visibility. Explore the full insights in Fastly’s Q2 2025 Threat Insights Report and join the conversation! Share your thoughts below!
