<s>
A	O
votebot	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
software	B-Protocol
automation	I-Protocol
built	O
to	O
fraudulently	O
participate	O
in	O
online	O
polls	O
,	O
elections	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
upvote	O
and	O
downvote	O
on	O
social	O
media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Simple	O
votebots	B-Protocol
are	O
easy	O
to	O
code	O
and	O
deploy	O
,	O
yet	O
they	O
are	O
often	O
effective	O
against	O
many	O
polls	O
online	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
developer	O
of	O
the	O
poll	O
software	O
must	O
take	O
this	O
kind	O
of	O
attack	O
into	O
account	O
and	O
do	O
extra	O
work	O
to	O
defend	O
against	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
WWW	O
uses	O
the	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
to	O
transfer	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Votebots	B-Protocol
are	O
designed	O
to	O
imitate	O
legitimate	O
user	O
behaviour	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
voting	O
in	O
an	O
online	O
poll	O
by	O
interacting	O
with	O
the	O
server	O
hosting	O
the	O
poll	O
using	O
the	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
bot	B-Protocol
thus	O
emulates	O
the	O
behavior	O
of	O
a	O
human	O
using	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
,	O
but	O
can	O
repeat	O
this	O
emulated	O
behavior	O
many	O
times	O
,	O
thus	O
casting	O
many	O
votes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
many	O
voting	O
projects	O
,	O
developers	O
try	O
to	O
distinguish	O
bots	B-Protocol
from	O
legitimate	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Votebots	B-Protocol
frequently	O
bypass	O
this	O
rule	O
by	O
using	O
proxy	O
or	O
VPN	O
IP	O
addresses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
web	O
sites	O
analyze	O
the	O
account	O
created	O
by	O
a	O
votebot	B-Protocol
and	O
its	O
history	O
of	O
actions	O
in	O
the	O
system	O
to	O
identify	O
potential	O
votebots	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Votebots	B-Protocol
in	O
turn	O
counter	O
this	O
by	O
trying	O
to	O
simulate	O
human	O
activity	O
such	O
as	O
logging	O
in	O
and	O
out	O
before	O
voting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
sites	O
employ	O
CAPTCHAs	O
,	O
which	O
votebots	B-Protocol
farm	O
out	O
to	O
Mechanical	O
Turks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
YouTube	B-General_Concept
,	O
Facebook	B-Application
,	O
Twitter	B-Application
and	O
Reddit	B-Application
are	O
major	O
target	O
of	O
votebots	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
