The use of bots to purchase concert tickets online has been a major issue for Ticketmaster in recent years. Bots, also known as ticket bots, are software programs that are designed to quickly search for and buy up tickets to popular events before human buyers have a chance. This has made it extremely difficult for fans to purchase tickets to in-demand concerts, sports games, and other events through Ticketmaster.
What are ticket bots?
Ticket bots are software programs that are designed to automatically search for and purchase tickets the moment they go on sale. The bots can process ticket requests much faster than a human user could. This allows the people operating bots to buy up large quantities of tickets within seconds of them going on sale. The tickets are then often resold at inflated prices on secondary market sites.
How do ticket bots work?
Ticket bots use advanced technologies to gain an advantage over human ticket buyers:
- Speed – Bots can process and submit ticket requests much faster than humans can. This allows them to rapidly buy up tickets before fans have a chance.
- Automation – Bots don’t have to go through the checkout process manually. Everything is automated, making the process extremely efficient.
- Circumvention – Many bots use proxies and other methods to disguise their activity and avoid detection by ticket sellers.
- Coordination – Large-scale bot operations often run on powerful servers and use multiple accounts and processes.
Together, these capabilities allow bots to dominate the ticket buying process for high-demand events.
The impact of bots on Ticketmaster
The mass use of ticket bots has had some major implications for Ticketmaster and its customers:
Tickets selling out instantly
One of the most obvious effects is that tickets for major concerts and sporting events now sell out literally within seconds. This is because bots are buying up all the inventory immediately, leaving nothing for actual fans. In many cases, tickets sell out faster than users can even complete the checkout process.
Event | Sell Out Time |
---|---|
Ed Sheeran at Scottrade Center, 2018 | Less than 2 minutes |
U2 Joshua Tree Tour, 2017 | Less than 6 minutes |
Hamilton in San Francisco, 2017 | Less than 2 hours |
Higher resale prices
With bots buying up massive inventories, fewer tickets are available on the primary market. This drives up resale prices on secondary sites. Ticket resellers are able to charge substantially marked-up prices, knowing that high demand remains for sold out events.
Event | Face Value Price | Resale Price |
---|---|---|
Super Bowl LIII | $500-$575 | $2,500+ |
NBA Finals, Game 5 | $600 | $1,800 |
Billie Eilish at The Forum | $200 | $700+ |
Fans are left having to pay much higher prices just to get tickets, often pricing out casual fans entirely.
Damaged reputation
The issues caused by bots have led to a damaged reputation for Ticketmaster among consumers. Fans are frustrated by the difficulty of buying tickets and often blame Ticketmaster. There has been significant negative media coverage and social media complaints related to bots dominating Ticketmaster sales.
Despite Ticketmaster taking anti-bot measures, many customers believe more should be done. Customer satisfaction has dropped, with Ticketmaster rated lower than competitors in surveys.
Reduced primary sales
With bots scooping up so much inventory, Ticketmaster makes far fewer sales through its primary channels. Instead, profit is generated mainly by secondary resellers. Ticketmaster loses out on large volumes of direct sales.
In a survey, 71% of fans said they will not attempt to buy primary tickets again after failing to get tickets initially due to bots. This causes a long-term drain on Ticketmaster’s sales.
Increased costs
Ticketmaster has been forced to invest heavily in anti-bot technologies and services. These include using CAPTCHA codes, requiring pre-approval for large purchases, and blocking suspicious IP addresses.
Staffing levels in fraud/abuse departments have also risen significantly. In 2016, Ticketmaster invested $1 billion to acquire a digital security firm.
These costs reduce profit margins for the company. Many anti-bot measures also risk unintentionally blocking some human customers, which causes other issues.
Ticketmaster’s response
Ticketmaster has taken a series of measures aimed at combatting bot issues:
Lawsuits
Ticketmaster has filed lawsuits against major ticket brokers found to be using bots. These include ScoreBig, Prestige Entertainment, and others. The lawsuits allege these firms illegally bypassed Ticketmaster security and improperly purchased thousands of event tickets.
Security enhancements
Ticketmaster has continuously enhanced its security systems to detect bots and throttle their activities. This includes full-page CAPTCHAs, IP monitoring, restriction of bulk purchases, and requiring human verification steps before finalizing orders.
Policy limits
Strict ticket limits have been instituted for some events. Individual buyers may be restricted to purchasing just 2-4 tickets at a time for popular shows or games. This helps limit the number of tickets bots can acquire per transaction.
Events with high bot traffic now commonly:
- Require pre-registration before sales
- Are in undisclosed ticket sale times
- Use waiting rooms to limit and stagger traffic.
Partnerships
Ticketmaster now collaborates with primary ticket partners like AXS and Eventbrite to identify large-scale cross-platform bot activity. This helps limit the same bots from attacking all major ticket vendors.
Warnings and education
Ticketmaster also aims to warn buyers about bots and educate them on best practices for purchasing tickets. Blog posts and website info try to set reasonable expectations for buying hot tickets.
Have Ticketmaster’s efforts worked?
Ticketmaster’s anti-bot efforts have provided some improvements:
Reduced bot ticket purchases
There are indications that bots now acquire slightly smaller percentages of initial ticket inventories compared to 5-10 years ago:
Year | Est. % tickets purchased by bots |
---|---|
2010 | 60-70% |
2016 | 50-60% |
2022 | 30-50% |
While bots are still dominant, their share has fallen as Ticketmaster security improves.
Some limited enforcement
There have been isolated wins from lawsuits and enforcement actions. Four men were criminally charged in 2017 with fraudulently buying 1,012 tickets to events using bots. A proposed federal law called the BOTS Act would prohibit bot use for event ticket sales.
However, cases are still infrequent and difficult to prosecute. Most resellers operate across multiple anonymous accounts without oversight. Meaningful enforcement remains a challenge.
Fan awareness
Ticketmaster’s warnings about bots have made more fans aware of why tickets sell out instantly and reach high resale prices. This provides some transparency.
However, many fans remain dissatisfied and feel the root problem is not resolved. Just 27% rate Ticketmaster as doing a good job preventing bots in one survey.
Why bots remain a major problem
Despite Ticketmaster’s efforts, ticket bots continue posing major challenges:
Sophisticated evasion tactics
As Ticketmaster introduces new bot-blocking measures, bot developers adapt and find ways around them. Bots use proxies, mimicking browsers, and other tactics to evade detection. There is an ongoing “arms race.”
High profits drive bot use
As long as there are enormous profits in reselling tickets, large operations will continue using bots. Markups make the significant time and money investments in bots worthwhile.
Limited legal deterrence
Anti-bot laws have stalled at both federal and state levels under lobbying pressure from secondary sellers. Few criminal cases are actively pursued. Lacking enforcement, most resellers dismiss lawsuits as a minor cost of business.
Unethical ticket brokers
Many large ticket resellers have no ethical qualms about using bots and flouting laws. They know average fans despise their practices. But the profits outweigh any concerns.
Bots still evolving
New technical capabilities like computer vision and distributed computing allow bots to further emulate human behavior. This makes them harder to detect and block.
The future of Ticketmaster and bots
While bots remain a thorny issue, there are some possible directions for Ticketmaster:
More aggressive lawsuits and enforcement
Ticketmaster may need to get more aggressive about suing major bot users and pushing for enforcement of anti-bot laws. This could help deter unlawful use if real punishments are enacted. However, success here also depends on public policy changes.
Tighter event registration
More upfront registration and identity verification limits bot access, albeit while creating barriers for some fans. Expect added email/phone validation, ID checks, and waiting rooms for high demand events.
Blockchain-based ticketing
Blockchain token-based ticketing offers potential advantages in transparency and validity. While still developing, blockchain could make unlawful scalping and transfers harder.
Price floors
Ticketmaster could implement price floors closer to face value to discourage speculative resale profit. This may limit bot incentive. But it risks reducing supply if resellers lose incentive to participate.
All-in pricing
Tickets could be sold with all fees built in so marked-up resale prices are obvious. This would reduce some bot price arbitrage. But fans may dislike higher upfront costs.
More partnerships
Joining forces with live entertainment players, social media platforms, payment processors, and others could cut off bot access across channels. But this requires rare cooperation between fierce competitors.
New sales models
Completely new ticket sale models like Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform aim to give real fans first access over bots during presales. These show promise but have seen slow adoption.
Conclusion
The rise of ticket bots presented major challenges for Ticketmaster by allowing large-scale scalping and reducing primary sales. While the company has invested in security upgrades and taken legal action, bots remain problematic given the huge financial incentives. Tighter regulations and new technologies offer some hope of better control. But for now, bots continue dominating the most in-demand events, damaging Ticketmaster’s reputation and bottom line. Fundamental improvements likely require policy shifts to enact strong deterrence, coupled with sales process changes that de-incentivize mass scalping. But with bots evolving as fast as defenses, their elimination remains an elusive goal in a largely unregulated market. Through continued legal, technical and process enhancements, Ticketmaster aims to contain bots’ damage and regain the trust of fans. But for the foreseeable future, this remains a costly game of cat and mouse.