Imperva Case Studies StubHub's Battle Against Bots: Protecting Content, Preventing Account Takeover, and Ensuring Accurate Conversion Rates

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	StubHub's Battle Against Bots: Protecting Content, Preventing Account Takeover, and Ensuring Accurate Conversion Rates Imperva

StubHub's Battle Against Bots: Protecting Content, Preventing Account Takeover, and Ensuring Accurate Conversion Rates

Imperva

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Machine Learning Analytics & Modeling - Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Applicable Industries	Education Equipment & Machinery
Applicable Functions	Procurement Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases	Chatbots Traffic Monitoring
Services	Cybersecurity Services Data Science Services
Challenge	StubHub, a leading ticket marketplace, was facing a series of challenges due to the activities of malicious bots. These bots were scraping pricing and inventory data from StubHub's website, selling this proprietary information to competitors, and reposting it on other platforms. This not only led to StubHub's pricing being undercut but also resulted in the theft and misuse of customer accounts. The problem was further exacerbated by the availability of stolen login information and password reuse, which facilitated account takeovers leading to buyer and seller fraud. Additionally, StubHub's site was under constant attack from Advanced Persistent Bots (APBs) that could imitate human-like interactions and blend in with human traffic. These bots were causing a significant increase in site traffic, leading to skewed analytics and artificially low conversion rates. Read More
About Customer	StubHub, an eBay company, is one of the world's largest ticket marketplaces. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, StubHub's mission is to help fans find fun. The platform enables fans to buy and sell tens of thousands of tickets whenever they want, through both desktop and mobile experiences, including apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Android. StubHub's accounts hold significant value due to the ease and speed of purchasing and selling tickets on its platform, making it a prime target for cyber thieves. Read More
Solution	To combat these challenges, StubHub partnered with Imperva, a cybersecurity company. Imperva implemented a series of measures to protect StubHub's proprietary information and customer accounts. They proactively blocked persistent web scraping campaigns, thereby protecting pricing and inventory information and maintaining StubHub's competitive pricing advantage. To prevent account takeovers, Imperva prevented credential stuffing bots from accessing the site, which significantly lowered fraud and improved StubHub's brand reputation among customers. To tackle the issue of APBs, Imperva used advanced fingerprinting technology, behavioral analysis, and machine learning to distinguish between bot and human traffic. They also implemented dynamic access controls to further secure the site. To correct skewed conversion tracking, Imperva blocked 99.9% of bad bots, which lowered page view traffic by 50% and resulted in higher conversion rates and improved sales funnel reporting. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Machine Learning

Analytics & Modeling - Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Applicable Industries

Education

Equipment & Machinery

Applicable Functions

Procurement

Warehouse & Inventory Management

Use Cases

Chatbots

Traffic Monitoring

Services

Cybersecurity Services

Data Science Services

Challenge

StubHub, a leading ticket marketplace, was facing a series of challenges due to the activities of malicious bots. These bots were scraping pricing and inventory data from StubHub's website, selling this proprietary information to competitors, and reposting it on other platforms. This not only led to StubHub's pricing being undercut but also resulted in the theft and misuse of customer accounts. The problem was further exacerbated by the availability of stolen login information and password reuse, which facilitated account takeovers leading to buyer and seller fraud. Additionally, StubHub's site was under constant attack from Advanced Persistent Bots (APBs) that could imitate human-like interactions and blend in with human traffic. These bots were causing a significant increase in site traffic, leading to skewed analytics and artificially low conversion rates.

About Customer

StubHub, an eBay company, is one of the world's largest ticket marketplaces. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, StubHub's mission is to help fans find fun. The platform enables fans to buy and sell tens of thousands of tickets whenever they want, through both desktop and mobile experiences, including apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Android. StubHub's accounts hold significant value due to the ease and speed of purchasing and selling tickets on its platform, making it a prime target for cyber thieves.

Solution

To combat these challenges, StubHub partnered with Imperva, a cybersecurity company. Imperva implemented a series of measures to protect StubHub's proprietary information and customer accounts. They proactively blocked persistent web scraping campaigns, thereby protecting pricing and inventory information and maintaining StubHub's competitive pricing advantage. To prevent account takeovers, Imperva prevented credential stuffing bots from accessing the site, which significantly lowered fraud and improved StubHub's brand reputation among customers. To tackle the issue of APBs, Imperva used advanced fingerprinting technology, behavioral analysis, and machine learning to distinguish between bot and human traffic. They also implemented dynamic access controls to further secure the site. To correct skewed conversion tracking, Imperva blocked 99.9% of bad bots, which lowered page view traffic by 50% and resulted in higher conversion rates and improved sales funnel reporting.

Impact #1	The implementation of Imperva's solutions led to a significant improvement in StubHub's operational efficiency and security. By blocking persistent web scraping campaigns, StubHub was able to protect its proprietary information and maintain its competitive edge in the market. The prevention of account takeovers not only reduced fraud but also improved StubHub's brand reputation among its customers, leading to increased customer trust and loyalty. The blocking of APBs and other bad bots resulted in more accurate site analytics and conversion tracking, enabling StubHub to make more informed business decisions. Furthermore, the reduction in bot traffic led to decreased load on the site, preventing downtime and ensuring a smoother user experience for customers.

Impact #1

The implementation of Imperva's solutions led to a significant improvement in StubHub's operational efficiency and security. By blocking persistent web scraping campaigns, StubHub was able to protect its proprietary information and maintain its competitive edge in the market. The prevention of account takeovers not only reduced fraud but also improved StubHub's brand reputation among its customers, leading to increased customer trust and loyalty. The blocking of APBs and other bad bots resulted in more accurate site analytics and conversion tracking, enabling StubHub to make more informed business decisions. Furthermore, the reduction in bot traffic led to decreased load on the site, preventing downtime and ensuring a smoother user experience for customers.

Benefit #1	99.9% of bad bots blocked
Benefit #2	Lowered page view traffic by 50%
Benefit #3	Significant reduction in fraud

Benefit #1

99.9% of bad bots blocked

Benefit #2

Lowered page view traffic by 50%

Benefit #3

Significant reduction in fraud

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Overview

StubHub's Battle Against Bots: Protecting Content, Preventing Account Takeover, and Ensuring Accurate Conversion Rates

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit