Issue
Bot traffic can trigger events such as "Page Viewed" and "Website Scrolled" in Segment, leading to inflated Monthly Tracked User (MTU) counts and increased costs. Customers may notice spikes in MTU usage from countries or user patterns that do not reflect genuine user activity.
Product
Segment
Environment
Segment Console
Cause
Segment does not provide a built-in solution to automatically filter or ignore bot traffic. Events generated by bots are counted toward MTU unless filtered before reaching Segment or blocked by tracking plan rules.
Resolution
To prevent bot traffic from affecting MTU counts:
- Identify criteria that distinguish bot traffic from real users (e.g., user agent, event patterns, geographic anomalies).
- Implement custom filtering logic in your application to suppress bot events before sending them to Segment.
- Alternatively, use Segment Protocols tracking plans to flag or block unwanted events. Configure rules in the Protocols UI for basic filtering, or use the JSON schema editor for advanced filtering based on defined bot criteria.
- Events filtered by tracking plans are not counted toward MTU.
Additional Information
Hands-on implementation of custom filtering logic or advanced schema configuration requires technical expertise and is not provided by general Segment support. This needs to be evaluated by your dev team, or you can acquire a Professional Services plan with Segment for assistance on this particular topic, since this requires a more in-depth analysis and strategic implementation approach.