Internet bots, or simply bots, are software program that operates as an agent for a user and simulates human activity or run automated tasks over the internet. Typically, bots perform tasks that are structurally repetitive, at a much higher rate than would be possible for a human.
On the Internet, the most ubiquitous bots are the programs called spiders or crawlers, which are search engine programs that go out on the internet, follow links, and read through the pages in order to index the site in a search engine.
Bots may also be implemented where a response speed faster than that of humans is required (e.g., gaming bots and auction-site robots) or in situations where the emulation of human activity is required. A chatterbot is a program that can simulate talk with a human being. A shopbot is a program that shops around the Web on your behalf and locates the best price for a product you're looking for.
More malicious use of bots is the coordination and operation of an automated attack on networked computers, such as a denial-of-service attack. Bots can also be used to commit click fraud (to repeatedly click on ad links to bolster revenue, or to bolster the popularity of a site).
A spambot is an internet bot that attempts to spam large amounts of content on the Internet, usually adding advertising links.
Now, we get a clearer picture of how CAPTCHAs help protect sites (eg: Orkut) from spamming bots, don't we?
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