New data shows AI bots are rapidly increasing their share of internet traffic, often bypassing standard safeguards like robots.txt. Publishers and website owners are confronting a sophisticated arms race as bots disguise themselves as human browsers and employ advanced scraping techniques. Companies such as TollBit, Cloudflare and others are offering tools to detect, block, or monetize bot access, while a growing market promotes services that help content appear in AI-driven search results. The shift is reshaping how the web functions and creating new revenue streams for digital publishers. Read more →

Matthew Prince, co‑founder and CEO of Cloudflare, explained the company’s new tool that forces AI services to pay for scraping website content. He warned that AI‑driven answer engines are cutting traffic to publishers and argued that a new exchange of value is needed to sustain content creators. Prince described partnerships with major publishers and Reddit that already generate significant revenue from AI companies. He also discussed seasonal internet shutdowns in some countries, the company’s neutral relationships with U.S. administrations, and his concern that the internet’s business model could collapse without new incentives. Read more →

Matthew Prince, co‑founder and CEO of Cloudflare, explained the company’s new tool that forces AI services to pay for scraping website content. He warned that AI‑driven answer engines are cutting traffic to publishers and argued that a new exchange of value is needed to sustain content creators. Prince described partnerships with major publishers and Reddit that already generate significant revenue from AI companies. He also discussed seasonal internet shutdowns in some countries, the company’s neutral relationships with U.S. administrations, and his concern that the internet’s business model could collapse without new incentives. Read more →

Matthew Prince, co‑founder and CEO of Cloudflare, explained the company’s new tool that forces AI services to pay for scraping website content. He warned that AI‑driven answer engines are cutting traffic to publishers and argued that a new exchange of value is needed to sustain content creators. Prince described partnerships with major publishers and Reddit that already generate significant revenue from AI companies. He also discussed seasonal internet shutdowns in some countries, the company’s neutral relationships with U.S. administrations, and his concern that the internet’s business model could collapse without new incentives. Read more →

Matthew Prince, co‑founder and CEO of Cloudflare, explained the company’s new tool that forces AI services to pay for scraping website content. He warned that AI‑driven answer engines are cutting traffic to publishers and argued that a new exchange of value is needed to sustain content creators. Prince described partnerships with major publishers and Reddit that already generate significant revenue from AI companies. He also discussed seasonal internet shutdowns in some countries, the company’s neutral relationships with U.S. administrations, and his concern that the internet’s business model could collapse without new incentives. Read more →

Matthew Prince, co‑founder and CEO of Cloudflare, explained the company’s new tool that forces AI services to pay for scraping website content. He warned that AI‑driven answer engines are cutting traffic to publishers and argued that a new exchange of value is needed to sustain content creators. Prince described partnerships with major publishers and Reddit that already generate significant revenue from AI companies. He also discussed seasonal internet shutdowns in some countries, the company’s neutral relationships with U.S. administrations, and his concern that the internet’s business model could collapse without new incentives. Read more →