Key Takeaways

  • Patreon is blocking AI bots from scraping its content.
  • The platform collaborates with Cloudflare for enhanced security.
  • New measures come as AI scraping techniques evolve.
  • Creators gain more control over how their work is used.

Patreon Enhances Protection Against AI Scraping

Patreon, the platform designed for creators, has announced a new initiative to prevent AI bots from scraping its content for training purposes. The company is now actively blocking these bots in collaboration with Cloudflare, aiming to safeguard creators’ work from unauthorized use.

Response to Evolving AI Scraping Techniques

According to Patreon, the need for these stronger measures arose as AI scraping methods have become increasingly sophisticated since the company first implemented deterrents in 2023. While Patreon’s paywall has historically kept much of its content inaccessible to crawlers, recent features like a redesigned Home Feed and tweet-like Quips have made more content available, raising concerns about potential scraping.

New Tools and Policies

In response to these challenges, Cloudflare has introduced tools that allow website owners to restrict AI bots. This includes a marketplace feature called Pay Per Crawl, which enables sites to charge AI bots for scraping their content. Recently, Cloudflare updated its policies to block mixed-use crawlers—those that both index and train on content—by default on pages containing ads.

Active Blocking of AI Bots

Patreon is extending its partnership with Cloudflare to utilize its AI Crawl Control technology, moving beyond simply requesting that AI crawlers refrain from scraping content. Instead, the platform is now taking proactive steps to block these bots entirely. A recent blog post from Patreon emphasized that consent should not rely on the behavior of scrapers.

Impact of New Measures

Testing of these new features revealed a significant drop in the number of attempts by individual AI training crawlers to access Patreon, plummeting from thousands to none. This suggests that previous requests were largely ignored by scrapers. However, Patreon clarified that it will still allow bots that index pages and help direct users back to its platform.

Creators’ Rights and Control

Drew Rowny, Patreon’s product chief, highlighted the importance of giving creators a say in how their work is utilized by AI companies. He noted that many creators on the internet face pressure to accept AI training on their work to reach audiences. In contrast, Patreon aims to empower creators to grow their audiences while maintaining control over their content.