The Inner Circle

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  • 1.  Battling Bots

    Posted Aug 02, 2021 10:07:00 AM
    Edited by Olivia Rempe Aug 02, 2021 10:07:34 AM

    I've been trying to buy a pair of Yeezy's online since 2018, which unfortunately is when the bot industry became widely commercialized. With today being Yeezy day and various sneakers being released, I assumed I'd have a better chance of snagging a pair than usual. Unfortunately, I've been online in countless waiting rooms since 4:00 AM and haven't seen any success.


    Out of curiosity, is anyone experienced with bots or has a deeper understanding of defense against them? Are big companies like Adidas able to prevent bots? Or is sitting at my computer all day trying to get a pair of shoes a waste of time and no match for bots?



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    Olivia Rempe
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  • 2.  RE: Battling Bots

    CSA Instructor
    Posted Aug 03, 2021 08:08:00 PM
    I have similar issue with securing a spot at the gym here in Singapore.  Due to the current pandemic with restrictions on number of gym goers/slots we all have to fight for it.  One way to take these bots out of the equation is to inject the need of human interaction/authentication, probably some form of biometric or facial recognition.  Looking forward to seeing further development in this area.  I am quite interested in this too.

    Regards,
    Ferdinand

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    Ferdinand F
    Managing Director
    Initial Alpha Pte Ltd
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  • 3.  RE: Battling Bots

    Posted Aug 04, 2021 11:25:00 AM
    Edited by Olivia Rempe Aug 04, 2021 12:24:09 PM
    I'm sorry to hear you didn't have any success on Yeezy day. Unfortunately, there are numerous bots available for footsites/retail shops. There are various mitigation techniques used by online shops, though none that I've seen prevent bots entirely. 

    Antibot measures used by online retailers will often utilize 3rd party solutions (captcha, queues, perimeterx, raffles, ML anomaly detection, etc.) while specific proprietary measures of those online retailers that can afford such solutions (E.g. Amazon) aren't generally known. These techniques generally only stop all but the most unsophisticated bots. Bots have a suite of capabilities designed to circumvent these speed bumps or at least provide a significant competitive edge over those not utilizing bots.

    Short of online selling in-demand items in-store only (best buy has done this recently), bots appear to be here to stay for the foreseeable future as the game of cat and mouse continues.

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    Tony B
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