Funny entries in last.fm's robots.txt

Because of robots.txt, no bot should touch that link. And because it's off the page and hidden, no human either. But you'll be amazed how much it's hit.

But a warning: the problem with today's browsers is prefetching. You'd have to make sure you disallow it for prefetching too or you'll trap innocent humans using hyperactive browsers.

This technique also will catch mass downloading plugins where they are saving your entire website from a browser plugin - but they can die too in my book.

If you want to be nice, write the banlist to a file you clear out ever hour via cron or with a time check.

Those warning signs about touching the third rail are there for a reason...