Bot Detection Without JavaScript: What My Blog Measured

A blog author analyzed bot traffic using network rules and request headers without JavaScript, successfully filtering out 74.5% of requests initially classified as browsers. By comparing multiple metrics and examining request patterns—such as clients loading dozens of pages in a single second or requests with missing referrer data—they identified automation and discovered discrepancies between their edge analytics and script-based counters. The analysis revealed that different counting methods measure different events, making direct comparison unreliable for determining actual readership without additional investigation.