Top Websites Give a Humorous Heave-Ho to Apple’s AI Scraping Shenanigans

“Major Sites Are Saying No to Apple’s AI Scraping”

“Apple has been running a robot indexing the web. But it’s no ordinary bot. Name aside, we’re not talking Johnny 5 in Short Circuit, or WALL-E trundling around a post-apocalyptic earth, Apple’s bot is something a bit more subtle, and a lot more pervasive.”

Presenting Apple’s not-so-secret weapon, the Applebot. An AI powerhouse that’s swiftly and silently charting the unaware web, carving a niche in the cyberspace. It sure ain’t a machine with whirling gears found in sci-fi movies. Instead, it is a considerably more nuanced beast that is steadily becoming prevalent.

Alright, so here’s the blabber about AI bots and search engines in a nutshell. Apple has piloted its discreet indexing AI darlin’ since 2014 but webmasters only started taking notice recently. Why the hullabaloo now? Because it has decided to come of age and foray into deeper waters. Or in the corporate jargon, the tech giant’s “expanded” crawling.

This extended scraping puts the famous Googlebot under the spotlight. Now it’s a face-off between two tech behemoths. And given Apple’s notoriously secretive modus operandi, it induces a good old shiver down the spine thinking about its long-term plan with Applebot. Who knows? Maybe Apple is savvily eyeing at sipping from the lucrative search engine potion. Must look pretty intoxicating, right?

But as of now, Apple’s “crawl instructions” are still dependent on Googlebot. Oh, the irony! Applebot is like a duckling trailing behind its mama (read Google), soaking up instructions on which areas to avoid or explore. However, these are quite elementary steps for any bot to start establishing its footprint. Remember, every empire was once a humble beginning. The same applies to the virtual bot-driven world too.

While it’s widely popular for its significant products like the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, Apple’s services like Apple Music and iCloud have also created immense ripples. So, the tech juggernaut taking a dive into search engine and AI scraping seems pretty natural, right? A little too natural, in fact. Hence, the webmaster and SEO communities who presume they have seen it all should brace themselves.

There’s something new brewing in the tech corridors, and it has Apple’s name written all over it. And if its successful trail of breaking new grounds is of any indication, make no mistake, Applebot is gearing to switch the AI indexing game in its favor.

So, will Apple wake up one chill morning and decide “Okay, let’s become a search engine now?” Well, Apple, your moves are eagerly watched. You are under the spotlight. No pressure, though!

Read the original article here: https://www.wired.com/story/applebot-extended-apple-ai-scraping/