When you’re taking L after L on SNKRS, it’s easy to blame the sneaker community’s most hated, bots. However, Nike wants to reassure you that SNKRS remains a platform with integrity and that bots aren’t necessarily the ones to blame for your L.
To clarify how bot protection works during a SNKRS drop, Nike is beginning to roll out an added screen to the launch experience that displays how and when Nike removes bots and validates entries. Nike intends to give SNKRS members more context around bots and how launches are protected from them.
How are SNKRS launches protected against bots? — Nike uses various tools to locate and remove bots from the SNKRS platform including advanced analytics and machine learning to verify that users and their entries are authentic. Nike has a team of engineers that are dedicated to blocking bots from launches. SNKRS launches are critically evaluated by the Nike team both in real time, and retroactively, to stay ahead of bot developers and advance their defenses.
Is bot protection new for SNKRS? — No, Nike claims to have been fighting SNKRS bots for about seven years. The Swoosh has added new messaging to the SNKRS launch process in order to provide more transparency about the validation process for entries. Nike has also been working with Terms of Sale to protect authentic users and address those who are leveraging bots.
How many bots are identified and removed? — Every month, Nike stops as many as 12 billion bots trying to infiltrate SNKRS launches globally. The Nike team actively identifies accounts exhibiting bot behavior during every launch and dismantles them. Popular releases see the most bot usage with bot attacks making up about 10%-50% of all entries.
Does Nike remove all bots? — Unfortunately, some bots still manage to slip through because bot innovation is constantly evolving, but Nike removes the majority of bots from all launches. For popular drops, Nike states that they step up their defense and apply an aggressive focus so that the release remains as fair as possible for SNKRS members.
If launches are protected from bots, why don’t I see more W’s? — SNKRS is home to Nike’s most coveted drops, so naturally it’s going to be competitive. The demand often greatly outweighs supply. Various factors impact how many pairs Nike makes of a given sneaker, but Nike’s ultimate goal is to make sure that SNKRS benefits sneakerheads.
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