Is the Traffic from HOSTROYALE a Bot or Legitimate?

From running a large SaaS that faced similar scraping issues, I found blocking isn't always the best tactic. Instead, we used a layered defensive system: identify and cache, degrade the experience for suspicious sources, and randomly challenge with CAPTCHAs. Let the bots waste resources on themselves without hindering actual users. Most CDNs have solid bot management tools that are quick to implement and scale. It's about protecting your infrastructure without killing the user experience!

Honestly, HOSTROYALE is like the Walmart of hosting, which means a lot of people are using their services. A full ASN block could end up hurting legit users. Check if the traffic is actually harming your app or just hitting your front-end hard. If it’s the latter, consider using Cloudflare's rules to filter based on user agents and referrer, rather than blocking the whole ASN. If requests are identical, try rate-limiting by IP instead and let the bots waste their limits while genuine traffic gets through. Worst case, you may end up back to blocking specific IP ranges, but at least you won't be cutting off someone’s actual website.

As someone who studies bot detection, I can confirm that HOSTROYALE has a reputation for being a hotspot for malicious bots. To answer your questions: Yes, a lot of bot traffic does come from them. When distinguishing between real users and bots, we look for clear indicators like browser tampering and automation signals. Instead of blocking entire ASNs or IPs (which isn't reliable), treat everyone as individuals and verify whether they’re human or bots based on concrete evidence.

If you're seeing a large spike in requests, there's a good chance they’re web scrapers. To mitigate this, instead of outright blocking requests, try implementing rate limits where you can adjust the parameters. Focus on detecting abnormal patterns rather than just blocking. Add in tactics like cache-heavy responses for high-risk sources without disrupting genuine traffic. Allowing bots to self-sabotage while keeping users safe is a smart approach!

I recommend starting with a temporary ASN block, but then follow up by reporting the offending IPs directly to HOSTROYALE’s abuse email. Most hosting providers take these reports seriously. If you think it's malicious traffic, gather the request logs and send them the details. They have procedures in place for handling legitimate abuse reports, and you might get a positive response from them.