[andreareina]

Classify IPs based on their recent behavior[2]. Most bots behave very differently from the median user, along many different dimensions -- volume of requests, time between requests, visit length, which links are followed, etc.

And if this means that bots are altered to become indistinguishable from users, and therefore have a minimal impact on a site's loading? Well, mission accomplished[1].

[1] https://xkcd.com/810/

ETA: [2] Recent behavior (as opposed to all historical behavior) is used so that someone inheriting a "bad" IP isn't completely screwed over.

[mark-r]

That's a superb xkcd that I hadn't seen yet, thanks.