The dark truth about botnets: What every marketer needs to know

Botnet detection might sound like something best left to cybersecurity experts in dark rooms lit by an entire wall of monitors, but if you're running ads, managing a website, or making data-driven decisions, this is your problem now.

Today’s marketing isn't just about driving traffic.

It’s about driving real traffic.

We’re talking human, intent-driven, conversion-ready traffic.

And botnets? They're the enemy of that.

Whether you’re running Google Ads, retargeting on Facebook, or doing good old SEO grinding, botnet traffic can pollute your data, drain your budget, and wreck your ROAS.

In this guide, we’ll break down what botnets actually are, how they work, what they’re doing to your marketing (even if you can’t see it), and how the right botnet detection tools can help you take back control.

Let’s get into it.

What are botnets?

OK, let’s start with the basics.

A botnet is essentially a network of internet-connected devices like computers, phones, IoT (Internet of Things) devices, and even smart TVs, that have been intentionally infected with malware (software designed to take control of a device or data without permission) and are being controlled remotely.

And the kicker? The owners of those devices usually have no idea it’s happening.

These “zombie devices” are linked together and used to carry out coordinated actions at scale.

That might mean launching cyberattacks, flooding websites with fake traffic, clicking on ads, or scraping data.

The person or group controlling the network is known as a “bot herder”. Think of them as the puppet master, pulling strings behind the scenes.

For marketers, botnets matter because they can show up in your:

• Paid ad clicks
  
• Web form submissions
  
• Heat maps
  
• Traffic reports
• Conversion paths

And once they strike, how much of your data is actually real.

Why should marketers care about botnets?

Because botnets waste money…it’s as simple as that.

Let’s say you’re running a $5,000/month Google Ads campaign and everything is looking pretty solid - your CTR (click-through-rate) is up, impressions (each time an ad is shown on a screen, whether or not someone clicks it) are healthy, and traffic to your site is steady.

But conversions? They’re flatlining.

You check your analytics, and there it is: 25-30% of your site traffic is from suspicious IP addresses, weird devices, strange geolocations, or sessions that bounce in under 3 seconds.

That’s botnet traffic…and it’s not just hurting your marketing budget. It also:

• Pollutes any A/B tests you’re running
• Feeds false positives into your optimization processes
• Burns retargeting lists, wasting time, money and resource on fake users
• Triggers automated workflows (like email drips or CRM alerts) with zero ROI

In short? It simply messes with everything.

How do botnets work?

Here’s how a typical botnet forms and functions, in simple terms:

Infection

A device gets infected via malware in a file, a shady website, or a compromised app.

Connection

The device connects back to a central “command and control” (C2) server.

Execution

The bot herder sends instructions to carry out specific actions across the infected network: load a website, click an ad, submit a form, etc.

Scaling

Because the botnet is distributed, it can perform actions at a massive scale, without setting off basic alarms.

To a normal analytics platform, this looks just like regular traffic.

But it’s not, unless you’re using something that isn’t “normal”.

The different types of botnet traffic

Not all botnets behave the same, and they are all pretty versatile.

Depending on what the bot herder wants to achieve (whether it’s draining ad budgets, stealing content, or flooding your CRM) they’ll use different kinds of bots for different jobs.

Let’s break down the most common types of botnet traffic, how they operate, and what to look out for as a marketer.

Click fraud botnets

These are the digital equivalent of “fake customers” walking into your store and wasting your sales team’s time, except instead they’re clicking your ads.

How they work: The botnet receives a command to visit a specific URL (like your paid ad). Each infected device used simulates a real browser session, loads the ad’s landing page, and fires click events that your chosen analytics tool logs 🔗

Some botnets can even mimic cursor movements and basic scroll behavior to appear more human-like, which for basic analytics tools, makes it difficult for your analytics tools to see through the fog.

Why they’re used: Typically it’s to burn through a competitor's PPC (pay-per-click) budget, inflate ad impressions, or manipulate ad auctions by creating fake engagement 🎯

The impact: Your budget ends up being spent on fake clicks that don’t have any intention of converting, thus making your real conversion rate tank, and any smart tools you’re using in PPC channels like Google Ads end up being misled into thinking your performance is better than it really is ⚠️

Scraping botnets

Scraping bots aren’t just a nuisance, they’re often the first move in competitive digging or product copying. These bots are designed to quickly scan your web pages to steal your content, prices, or listings at scale (and they do it at a rapid pace) ⏩

‍How they work: They cycle through infected devices or proxy IPs (a middleman IP between the actual device and the internet) to make repeated requests to specific pages on your website (usually category, pricing, or product pages).

These bots read the code behind the page, extract structured data (like titles, prices, SKUs), and send it all back to a central server.

Advanced scrapers can run JavaScript just like a genuine user, slipping past basic bot protection and making free or entry-level tools practically useless.

‍Why they’re used: Competitors scrape your product info and pricing to benchmark their own performance, lead-gen companies steal directory data, affiliate fraudsters hunt for coupon codes, and others simply grab your content to train AI models 💸

The impact: Your site's performance and metrics are going to be hit hard, your content’s overall uniqueness becomes less unique, and any pricing competitiveness or business advantage you had is gone when it's used against you ⚠️

Form fill & conversion botnets

These bots don’t just click, they act like they’re converting 🤖

They’ll fill out your forms, submit fake emails, or even trigger purchase events to pollute your funnel.

How they work: They simulate user interactions by autofilling fields on contact forms, signup flows, checkout pages, or lead gen forms and can rotate between form values (e.g. different names/emails) to bypass basic filters & validation 💳

Some are designed to test stolen credit cards or credentials, whilst others are used to overflow CRMs with junk data making it hard for you to cut through the noise.

Why they’re used: Often to test stolen identity data like names & email addresses or payment information, pollute a competitors sales or lead pipeline, and abuse free trials & discount codes.

The impact: Aside from the fact your CRM data becomes ineffective, you end up nurturing bots and not real people in your onboarding flows, spend time and money trying to convert fake leads, and your true north compass metrics like ROAS & CPA get so skewed they end up simply lying to you.

Credential stuffing botnets

These bots are sneaky, and they're not after your ads, they're targeting your login forms.

If your site has user accounts, this kind of attack is a serious threat 🚨

How they work: The botnet tries thousands (or even millions) of stolen email/password combinations from dark web leaks, rotates through IPs and mimics real logins to avoid detection.

Successful attempts give the attacker access to real user accounts, and pose account takeover risks.

Why they’re used: Typically these types of attacks are aimed at hijacking user accounts in sectors like eCommerce, SaaS, and social platforms with the goal of accessing saved payment information, order history or even PII (personally identifying information) about the account owner.

The impact: Not only does it damage user trust and brand reputation as the user puts faith in the platform preventing this kind of attack, but it also swamps your backend systems with fake logins or failed login attempts ⚠️

DDoS botnets

Potentially the most dangerous of them all, these botnets don’t care about clicking ads or filling out forms.

Their only goal is to take your site offline…fast ⛔

How it works: DDoS (or Distributed Denial of Service) is when thousands of infected devices start bombarding your website with requests at the same time.

Each request might look like a real visit, a product page view, a login attempt, an item added to the cart load, but the volume is overwhelming. When your server can’t handle it, pages stop loading, and eventually the entire site crashes.

Some botnets use “headless browsers” (which run in the background without actually showing anything on screen) or simulate human-like behavior to sneak past simple rate limiters or CAPTCHAs, making the traffic look legit at first glance.

Why they’re used: Bot attacks aren’t always about stealing data, sometimes, they’re meant to cause as much damage as possible.

Competitors might flood your site during a big sale or launch to sabotage you, other attacks come with a ransom demand to pay up or stay offline, and some are used as a smokescreen while more serious things happen in the background, like scraping or hacking.

Sometimes however, it’s done for no reason at all, just to cause chaos.

The impact: If your website goes down its game over, but keeping it online can be just as hard when dealing with DDoS attacks. They affect your sites availability and speed, general user experience and ultimately, your revenue.

Each type of botnet traffic comes with different tactics and consequences, but the outcome is the same: your marketing gets murky, your data turns unreliable, and your spend goes up with absolutely nothing to show for it.

That’s why real-time botnet detection tools are essential.

You don’t just need to see what’s happening, you need to be able to act on it ✅

What are botnet detection tools?

Botnet detection tools are purpose built to detect, flag, and fight back against fake traffic.

They go way beyond the basic features that GA4 (Google Analytics) or Meta Pixel can do by identifying abnormal behavior at the session level, before a bot can even complete an action.

The best botnet detection tools (like Hitprobe 👋) use a combination of:

• Device fingerprinting to create a unique ID for every user based on device, OS, time zone, and more.
  
• IP analysis to flag traffic from data centers, VPNs, or known botnet ranges.
  
• Behavioral signals to track how a visitor moves, clicks, scrolls, and engages with your site’s pages.
  
• Real-time rules to help detect and block known patterns instantly.

If a visitor looks & behaves like a bot, a botnet detection tool will call it out…and more importantly, shut it down.

Botnet tracker tools vs Traditional analytics tools

Relying on GA4 or Meta to catch bot traffic?

Here’s why you’re playing a losing game:

Botnets are only getting smarter and they don’t just idly crawl pages.

If your current tool can’t tell the difference, you’re always going to be making decisions on bad data.

Common signs you might be getting hit with botnet traffic

Maybe you’re reading this article out of curiosity, but if you’re not sure if botnet traffic affects you, here are some red flags that often mean botnet trouble:

• Sudden traffic spikes from strange geographic locations
  
• Sessions with zero interaction and super short duration
  
• A/B test variants that "win" but don’t convert
  
• Floods of form fills with fake or duplicate information
  
• Analytics showing perfect bounce rates or session lengths (too perfect = suspicious)
  
• High repeat visits from hidden IPs or anonymized devices

How to protect your ad spend from botnets

Here’s our short and sweet checklist on what you can fight back:

Final thoughts: Outsmart the bots, not just track them

Botnets don’t really make noise, and they don’t trigger alarms.

They just quietly mess with your traffic, your data, and your decision making. 

If you’re seeing weird spikes, dodgy conversions, or traffic that simply “feels off,” trust your gut - it could well be botnet traffic.

Marketers today don’t just need more traffic, they need real traffic.

Clean, human, conversion-ready users they can trust, and that starts with knowing who’s actually on your site.

Hitprobe gives you that clarity.

It’s your first line of defense against fake clicks, ghost conversions, and botnet manipulation, all so you can spend smarter, optimize faster, and grow with confidence.

Sign up to Hitprobe for free for 14 days and see if botnets are running rife in your traffic.