Bot

The main purpose of a bot is to seek out data over a network and report back to its creator. A perfect example would be a web spider that combs pages to compile rankings for search engines. Many online businesses will use a bot to study the surfing patterns of their visitors. Some bots make way for communication between users in online activities, such as instant messaging. Often called chatterbots, they allow people to interact in various languages while formulating appropriate responses. Bots are capable of multi-tasking - whether reporting, retrieving locations, displaying sports scoreboards, converting currency, and much more. A bot may also monitor online conversations in a particular channel. This is often used to aid new service users or to censor profane language. Others will use bots with malicious intent. They can be deployed for automated strikes on operating systems and networks, causing situations such as a denial of service. Bots are also used to harvest email addresses, where the purpose is to distribute a mass amount of unsolicited email or to transmit viruses.