“In the end, I detected over 60% of user signups to be automated bot accounts.”
ProductHunt has over 1 million signups and more than 60% are bots, by a count Hamlett calls conservative. Bot upvotes passed real ones in 2022, and about 15% bot votes is enough to win the day. The prize is a slot in the newsletter and a badge to wave at investors. The backlink everyone chases is nofollow, so Google ignores it. Founders pay bots to impress other bots.