As Twitch promises to fight viewbotting, CEO claims it's hard to catch bots
Amazon-backed streaming platform Twitch is making changes to the platform to improve its ability to catch viewbots and take action against channels that are involved in viewbotting.
Viewbotting is a significant problem on Twitch, with many streamers big and small being accused of artificially increasing their numbers. Twitch takes action against streamers using viewbots, but it’s been heavily criticized for not doing enough to curb what is seen as a growing problem. On July 28, the Twitch Support X account tweeted that changes for being made to the platform that would improve detecting viewbots, while Twitch CEO Dan Clancy tweeted an explanation of why the viewbot problem still exists and what the platform is doing to combat it.
What is Twitch doing to fight viewbotting?
Twitch says it is making changes to its code to better detect viewbotting and eliminate viewbots them that so streamers can’t artificially inflate their viewership numbers.
The tweet stated that the platform has tech teams working on ensuring that the viewers on its channels are real users and not fake bots. Twitch also says that it updates its detection tools and methods regularly to ensure these bots don’t find ways past its preventative resources. The platform is now making more “meaningful” improvements that will better identify bots, inauthentic viewership, and fake engagement in general. There is no set date for when these new changes will be implemented, but Twitch says the changes are slated to roll out over the next few weeks.
Twitch
Once the new changes take effect, if a channel is found to be using viewbotting to inflate its concurrent and total viewership numbers, then its view count will be adjusted accordingly. Third-party sites that publish Twitch metrics may also be affected as these changes are made.
The changes are aimed at both the streamers themselves and other users who point bots towards certain streams, as Twitch recognizes that viewbotting isn’t always initiated by the effected content creators themselves. CEO Dan Clancy retweeted the original tweet and provided a further detailed explanation of why the platform is experiencing issues with viewbotting.
Clancy says that the platform may work more slowly on implementing solutions to the issue because it doesn’t want to filter out real users. He also explained that some streamers may be using viewbots for their benefit, but others may be the victims of harassment and that these cases would need to be handled differently. Clancy compared catching viewbots to a game of cat-and-mouse, as third-party bot creators are always looking for new ways to avoid detection. The CEO promised that the platform will continue to monitor and improve its viewbot detection system.
Viewers’ reaction to the promised update has been divided. Some have appreciated Twitch’s approach, but others remain critical of the platform and the obvious issues it has had in combating viewbotting and artificial viewership inflation in general.
Khizar Mundia has been playing video games for as long as he can recall. Things have come a long way since the many days he spent playing the original NES, though. He now covers a variety of competitive games and esports, as well as the world of streaming, ranging from Twitch to Kick. If it’s of interest to gamers, it’s of interest to Khizar.
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