Understanding bots at Shopify

A bot is a software designed to perform automated tasks on the internet. Bots are created with specific purposes by humans. Often, they're designed to mimic human activity, but operate faster and more efficiently than a human can.

Bots can range from legitimate business functions to malicious activities depending on the intent of the bot's creator. A bot's intent is the underlying purpose behind the bot's activities and can be categorized as beneficial, undesirable, or harmful. Some bots can be beneficial to the overall internet experience, such as web crawling bots from Google that help to automatically index your online store so it can display in Google's search results. However, some bots can be used for other purposes, such as purchasing inventory faster than your human customers can during a flash sale.

The flow of data generated by bots is known as automated traffic that can impact performance and security.

In this section, you can learn more about types and intents of bots, as well as common terminology related to bots and automated traffic at Shopify. You can also learn how to identify potential bot activity on your online store.