Ticket bots have become an increasingly popular tool for buying event tickets online in recent years. As demand for major concerts, festivals, and sporting events continues to rise, ticket bots provide an automated way to search for and purchase tickets quickly. However, there are some important things to understand about how ticket bots operate.
What is a ticket bot?
A ticket bot is a software program that is designed to search for and buy event tickets online automatically. Ticket bots run on websites known as ticket brokers that resell event tickets. The bot uses special purchasing algorithms as well as pools of thousands of IP addresses to disguise itself as a human shopper to evade limits on ticket purchases imposed by event venues and ticket sales platforms.
The key advantage of a ticket bot is speed. The bot can search for and purchase tickets within milliseconds, which gives it a significant edge over regular human shoppers. This allows the bot to snap up large quantities of tickets in high demand situations where events sell out in seconds.
How do ticket bots work?
Ticket bots use a complex set of processes to buy tickets quickly:
- The bot is programmed to target a specific event or set of events. This includes the date, time, location, and other relevant details.
- It searches inventory for ticket availability on major primary market platforms like Ticketmaster as well as secondary market resellers.
- Once tickets are found, the bot adds them to a virtual shopping cart and begins the checkout process as fast as possible.
- During checkout, the bot automatically fills in delivery and payment info using credit card numbers and addresses sourced from large pools maintained by the ticket broker.
- The bot uses an array of proxy IP addresses that make it appear as if purchases are coming from many different locations and devices.
- Purchased tickets are delivered electronically or via courier depending on the event policies.
Ticket bots are highly customizable and scalable. Many ticket brokers will run thousands of bots simultaneously on cloud computing infrastructure to optimize buying power for in-demand events.
Are ticket bots legal?
The legality of ticket bots varies between different jurisdictions:
- In the United States, the BOTS Act was passed in 2016 which made the use of bots to buy event tickets illegal except in certain approved cases.
- In the UK, ticket bots have been banned under the Consumer Rights Act since 2018.
- The European Union also instituted a ban on ticket bots across its member countries in 2021.
- However, some countries like Canada have not expressly outlawed ticket bots yet.
Despite the bans in place, ticket brokers still find ways to use bots, often operating from foreign countries. Monitoring and enforcement remains a challenge.
Why are ticket bots controversial?
There are a few reasons why ticket bots stir up controversy:
- Limits ticket access for fans – By buying up large amounts of tickets instantly, bots squeeze out regular consumers from accessing seats. This forces fans to pay inflated prices on secondary markets.
- Circumvents ticket limits – Ticket bots can bypass ticket purchase limits imposed by event organizers, diverting that inventory to resellers.
- Facilitates unfair pricing – With bots securing massive quantities of tickets early, it drives up resale prices as demand exceeds limited supply on secondary markets.
- Generates profits for brokers – Third-party brokers earn large profits through service fees and markups on tickets acquired using bots. This does not benefit the event, artists, or fans.
As a result, many feel the use of ticket bots creates an unfair and economically exploitative system for buying tickets to popular events.
What are the risks of using ticket bots?
There are a few risks consumers face when using ticket bots:
- Getting caught – In places where ticket bots are illegal, users risk facing hefty fines or criminal charges if caught using them.
- Invalid tickets – Bots sometimes make mistakes and purchase fake/duplicate tickets which will not grant entry.
- Account bans – Using bots violates terms of service on many ticket platforms, which can lead to accounts being canceled or blacklisted.
- Financial losses – Bot users don’t always get a refund if the tickets purchased are invalid, and are still liable for any charges made.
- Higher prices – The high volume purchases made by bots reduce general ticket availability and drive up prices across the board.
In general, the excessive automation of ticket buying through bots hurts regular fans and distorts ticket pricing in an unfair manner. Consumers looking for event tickets face fewer choices and higher costs due to bot activity.
How are event organizers combating ticket bots?
Event organizers and ticket platforms are deploying a range of technological measures and policies to combat ticket bots:
- Imposing ticket purchasing limits per customer to curb bulk buying.
- Using CAPTCHA and other verification checks to deter automated orders.
- Blocking known proxy IP addresses used by third-party bot networks.
- Invalidating orders that indicate bot activity and cancelling those tickets.
- Making tickets non-transferable electronically to prevent scalping.
- Partnering with analytics firms to identify suspicious transaction patterns.
- Implementing randomized queueing systems for high demand events.
However, ticket bots also continue to become more sophisticated in evading such countermeasures. Ultimately, consumer awareness and stronger anti-bot regulations are needed to curb their impact.
Conclusion
Ticket bots enable large-scale automated purchasing of event tickets. This lets resellers acquire huge inventories early, reducing availability for fans on primary markets and inflating secondary market prices. While increased speed and efficiency is appealing, ticket bots create an unfair system that makes buying tickets more expensive and difficult for regular consumers. Ongoing technological and legal efforts to regulate bots aim to restore balance and accessibility in event ticketing again.
