70
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by IndigoGollum@lemmy.world to c/explainlikeimfive@lemmy.world

I'd link to some blog posts about this an example, but the site they're from went down a while ago.

At risk of giving anyone ideas, why do LLM training scrapers request pages from sites millions of times per day instead of just doing the equivalent of wget -r https://example.com/ ? If the point is just stealing things people have written, what do they accomplish by wasting a web host's resources beyond being an ⊛ to webmasters?

Edit: Let me elaborate. A lot of the answers i'm seeing are just restating the problem without explaining why LLM scrapers are apparently all either coded by idiots or assholes. I know that they're hitting sites with unreasonable numbers of requests, wasting bandwidth, and making tools like Anubis too important. I know that's what's happening. I'm asking why. What they gain from not being even a little intelligent about this.

With all the money and effort (and maybe even brainpower) going into this, surely there's some explanation beyond incompetence.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] DecorativeTarp@lemmy.zip 0 points 2 days ago

You’re not correcting anything, dude.

[-] drmoose@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Whatever, stew in your ignorance then. Bye.

[-] DecorativeTarp@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Been stewing at it for longer than you have, buddy.

this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2026
70 points (97.3% liked)

Explain Like I'm Five

22322 readers
7 users here now

Simplifying Complexity, One Answer at a Time!

Rules

  1. Be respectful and inclusive.
  2. No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
  3. Engage in constructive discussions.
  4. Share relevant content.
  5. Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
  6. Use appropriate language and tone.
  7. Report violations.
  8. Foster a continuous learning environment.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS