[ethbr1]

> And if we can't tell bot from human, why would bots choose to pay rather than just use the public endpoints we serve to our customers?

Assuming technical indistinguishability, the only solution is what was originally proposed for email: balanced net $0 charges for "normal user" usage patterns (i.e. payments from - payments to = $0).

If you x402 everything, and an average user access 5 pages, but a bot accesses 500 (or 5x100 times), then you've still achieved a substantial price delta that you could offset via a rebate

The real rub is about uniqueness attribution, as being able to differentiate 20 distinct real users from 1 bot w/ 20 proxies is the crux of anything above.

[cphoover]

Asking customers to pay anything prior to purchase is a non-starter... Imagine a brick-and-mortar shoe store asking customers to pay an entry fee to shop before customers enter the door?

[me-vs-cat]

Cover charge for a shoe store is an interesting idea. I hate shopping, especially with crowds, and probably wouldn't mind, especially if it went towards a purchase, even partially. (This willingness is learned, probably only true for me since my 30s, and not strictly correlated to my income bracket.)

I often buy gas at the BP with a $0.03/gal higher price than the Shell across the street. Guess which one has a longer line more full of gas guzzlers.