TicketMaster is one of the largest primary ticket outlets for large-scale events in the United States and abroad. With high demand events like concerts, sports games, and theater productions, tickets often sell out extremely quickly. This has led some tech-savvy fans to use bots or automated software tools to try to gain an advantage in buying tickets the moment they go on sale.
What are ticket bots?
Ticket bots, also sometimes called ticket scalper bots, are software programs that are designed to quickly search for and purchase tickets online. They are programmed to target popular events and rapidly complete ticket transactions in order to buy up as many desirable tickets as possible before they sell out. Some of the features of modern ticket bots include:
- Automatically searching ticket vendor websites for newly available tickets
- Submitting ticket purchase requests extremely quickly, often in a fraction of a second after tickets go on sale
- Completing CAPTCHA tests meant to block bots in order to finalize purchases
- Using distributed networks of IP addresses and credit cards to get around purchase limits
Ticket bots allow resellers and ticket brokers to acquire large volumes of tickets almost instantly when sales begin. The tickets can then be resold through secondary markets at often-inflated prices compared to their original face value.
Are ticket bots allowed on TicketMaster?
TicketMaster expressly prohibits the use of bots or any automated tools to search for or purchase tickets through their website. Their Terms of Use state that:
Use of automated devices (including but not limited to scripts, bots, spiders, robots, and scrapers) to search for, reserve, buy or otherwise obtain Tickets is strictly prohibited, unless expressly authorized in writing by Ticketmaster.
TicketMaster utilizes a number of measures aimed at detecting and blocking bots or automated traffic on their website:
- Access control – Rate limiting and analysis of connection traffic to identify patterns suggestive of automation
- CAPTCHAs – Challenges designed to be easy for humans but difficult for bots to solve
- Purchase Limits – Restrictions on number of tickets per customer account and credit card to make mass purchases harder
- Forensics – Teams investigating suspicious transaction patterns and cancelling orders confirmed to be placed via bots
Circumventing these protections is considered a violation of TicketMaster’s Terms of Use. If identified, customers face account suspension, order cancellations, and forfeiture of any tickets purchased. The company has shown its willingness to sue large-scale ticket brokers found to be using ticket bots at scale as well.
Have ticket bots been made illegal?
As backlash grew against perceived abuses of ticket bots to quickly buy up tickets and resell them at much higher prices, political efforts emerged to make the automated purchase of event tickets illegal. In 2016, the US Federal Government passed the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act which prohibits:
The circumvention of control measures used by Internet ticket sellers to ensure equitable consumer access to tickets for any given event.
The law also specifically bans the use of bots to purchase tickets along with any resale of tickets knowingly acquired through automated tools. Violators can face fines up to $1000 per offense.
A number of states including New York and California passed their own anti-bot laws prior to the federal BOTS Act as well. These state laws impose similar restrictions and penalties on using bots or automated tools to buy event tickets online.
What efforts are being made to stop ticket bots?
TicketMaster and other major ticket vendors continue to try to get ahead of bot operators in order to preserve tickets for sale at face-value to normal customers. Some of the initiatives include:
- Lobbying for and complying with anti-bot laws
- Employing increasingly sophisticated bot detection and mitigation technology
- analyzing purchase data and cancelling suspicious high-volume orders
- Requiring human verification like CAPTCHAs during purchases
- Upgrading identity verification procedures for customer accounts
- Limiting ticket purchases to 4-6 per household even if using multiple accounts
Ticketing companies are hesitant to reveal too many specifics of their anti-bot tactics for fear of allowing the bot makers to engineer around them. The bot creators are engaged in an ever-evolving technological arms race with the ticketing websites as each side tries to outmaneuver the other.
Are everyday customers still able to buy tickets?
While ticket bots have made buying the hottest event tickets more difficult, regular customers using TicketMaster’s website as intended are still able to successfully purchase tickets in most cases. Strategies that can improve your chances include:
- Logging into your TicketMaster account ahead of the sale time to save precious seconds at checkout
- Joining fan clubs or reward programs for presale ticket access before the general public
- Coordinating with friends to try for adjacent seats together
- Avoiding the “best seat” option which is slow – be flexible
- Using mobile apps which are often faster than desktop browsers
While good seats for the most in-demand events will still sell out quickly, persistence, planning, and flexibility can help customers beat the bots. Some event tickets sell out immediately only because brokers use bots to gobble up extra inventory. So there may be more tickets available than it initially appears.
Conclusion
Ticket bots allow large-scale brokers and resellers to unfairly monopolize the inventory for high-demand events. However, major ticket vendors like TicketMaster actively work to detect and block bot usage in order to keep tickets available to the general public. Anti-bot laws have also made the automated mass-purchase and scalping of tickets illegal. For regular customers using TicketMaster as intended, tickets for most events are still obtainable through persistence, preparation, and smart ticket-buying strategies.