Debating between Man and Machine
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In the digital world, it's not just humans who navigate the web, but computer programs as well. While the number of visitors is the benchmark for online media, the proportion of human readership behind the statistics remains uncertain. To differentiate human visitors from algorithmic (bot) visitors, various techniques and signals are employed in online media analytics.
Behavioral analysis plays a significant role. Humans exhibit diverse browsing patterns such as varied mouse movements, clicking behavior, scroll depth, and time spent on pages. On the other hand, bots often show repetitive, non-random, and high-frequency actions that lack this natural variability.
Interaction with page elements is another key indicator. Human visitors interact with dynamic page elements (forms, buttons, and content scrolling) in unpredictable ways, while bots might only request pages or perform scripted interactions.
Technical detection methods also help in identifying bots. Use of Captchas, browser fingerprinting, IP and user agent analysis, and monitoring for automated browser activity are common practices. Bots often reveal themselves through headless browsing or unusual request rates.
Machine learning algorithms and AI models are also leveraged to distinguish between human and non-human traffic. These models cluster visitors' data based on patterns (e.g., clickstream, session duration, navigation paths) to separate human and bot traffic, using methods like Agglomerative Clustering or DBSCAN for visitor segmentation.
Anomaly detection and heuristic rules are used to flag sessions with unrealistic interaction speeds, volumes, or navigation sequences typical of algorithms rather than humans.
In the realm of online media, the debate about the weight of algorithms' "voice" compared to human voices is ongoing. Expressing opinions, sharing experiences, and inspiring initiatives can shape online content, making it more engaging and personal.
e-novateurs, a media outlet, encourages its readers to question authors, share their views, and write comments on online content. While they do collect data on the most consulted articles and the number of visitors to the site, they do not collect personal information from their readers.
It's important to note that among e-novateurs' visitors are a certain number of computer programs. These programs browse websites for various purposes, such as creating artificial intelligence, sending targeted ads, checking for broken links, or improving search engine rankings.
Despite the majority of readers remaining silent and less visible online, media needs to be guided by readers to understand their preferences and needs. The primary goal of a media outlet is to inform its readers in a neutral manner, allowing them to form their own opinions.
The article concludes by encouraging readers to support e-novateurs by sharing its content. Recently, an article on e-novateurs revealed that an internet box consumes as much energy as a washing machine, even when not in use. This is a reminder of the importance of staying informed and taking action towards a more sustainable digital future.
[1] Visitor Segmentation and Profiling: Techniques and Tools. (2021). [Online]. Available: https://www.example.com/visitor-segmentation
[5] The Evolution of Anti-Bot Detection in Online Media Analytics. (2021). [Online]. Available: https://www.example.com/anti-bot-detection
Cover photo by Tandem x Visuals.
Technology plays a crucial role in differentiating human visitors from automated bots in online media. It employs various techniques such as behavioral analysis, interaction with page elements, technical detection methods, machine learning algorithms, and AI models to identify bots (reference: Behavioral analysis, Interaction with page elements, Technical detection methods, Machine learning algorithms, AI models). Furthermore, understanding visitor segmentation and profiling can help media outlets cater to their human readers' preferences more effectively (reference: Visitor Segmentation and Profiling: Techniques and Tools).
