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Post by highlandtiger on Jan 4, 2016 15:38:17 GMT
Seeing as the use of bots on the SM is becoming a hot topic, let's have a quick poll on this subject and see who is in favour of having a bot free zone or who is in favour of a free for all for those few people who are able to create such an advantage.
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dp
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Post by dp on Jan 4, 2016 15:43:08 GMT
I'm all for Bot free zone so I have answered "Yes" but I don't currently believe there are bots in use. Demand is much higher than Supply. I can pick up a lot on SM if I can be bothered to sit and refresh and use fast fingers.
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ablender
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Post by ablender on Jan 4, 2016 15:51:34 GMT
The problem I currently have is that I do not have any more money to invest. I need to earn more. Any ideas short of a day time job?
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Post by carol167 on Jan 4, 2016 16:09:00 GMT
The problem I currently have is that I do not have any more money to invest. I need to earn more. Any ideas short of a day time job? Erm.... Spend less ? 
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benno
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Post by benno on Jan 4, 2016 16:10:52 GMT
There are definitely bots on the SM, I don't think there's much disagreement there.
They can't be banned, though. You can quite easily write an automation routine which cannot easily be delineated from a human.
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ablender
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Post by ablender on Jan 4, 2016 16:13:59 GMT
The problem I currently have is that I do not have any more money to invest. I need to earn more. Any ideas short of a day time job? Erm.... Spend less ? possible - - - - anything else?
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Jan 4, 2016 16:16:54 GMT
There are definitely bots on the SM, I don't think there's much disagreement there. They can't be banned, though. You can quite easily write an automation routine which cannot easily be delineated from a human. Yes... and no. A bot is just "doing what a human does, but faster" - and that, in itself, is a giveaway. Any bot worth running will be easily identifiable from server logs - because it will be refreshing the available loans page constantly and rapidly, in a way no human can sustain. If you really wanted further proof, then you could look for patterns in what that bot was doing when parts came up.
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ablender
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Post by ablender on Jan 4, 2016 16:19:28 GMT
There are definitely bots on the SM, I don't think there's much disagreement there. They can't be banned, though. You can quite easily write an automation routine which cannot easily be delineated from a human. Yes... and no. A bot is just "doing what a human does, but faster" - and that, in itself, is a giveaway. Any bot worth running will be easily identifiable from server logs - because it will be refreshing the available loans page constantly and rapidly, in a way no human can sustain. If you really wanted further proof, then you could look for patterns in what that bot was doing when parts came up. Just an extension of the browser can refresh the page constantly. It is by no means a bot (at least not how I understand it). It just extends the functionality of the browser.
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ilmoro
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'Wondering which of the bu***rs to blame, and watching for pigs on the wing.' - Pink Floyd
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Post by ilmoro on Jan 4, 2016 16:19:59 GMT
There are definitely bots on the SM, I don't think there's much disagreement there. Still panto season, so Altogether then...
Oh yes there is!
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Post by Butch Cassidy on Jan 4, 2016 16:23:56 GMT
I'm all for Bot free zone so I have answered "Yes" but I don't currently believe there are bots in use. Demand is much higher than Supply. I can pick up a lot on SM if I can be bothered to sit and refresh and use fast fingers. I was also sceptical about their use when I first invested on FC but they are now in common use on both PM & SM, even some forum users freely admit to using them (but all maintain that they use them responsibly  ). I am not enough of a techy to write one & prefer manual investments but am not happy when this sort of automation means that manual investment becomes impossible, try investing in a small E band loan on FC currently. I haven't been active on SS since the new website/system came in but having spent an hour this afternoon just trying to reinvest a few hundred££ in interest payments I realise that there has been a significant change in the operation of the SM. Often by the time available loans appear they are no longer available - it may well not be bots & can be explained by high demand & certain areas of the country having faster internet than others - I don't know the real cause but it can certainly be frustrating & time consuming.
The new loan prefunding allocation system is a great improvement on fastest finger first approach, perhaps any excess that is put onto the SM could also be limited to X% per buyer (as the initial allocation is & similar to MT) but overall I am satisfied with the way the system works - but then I am already invested, if I was starting from scratch I could see it being a slow frustrating process to get fully invested. Can platforms really identify bots over manual bids? Do they really care if all loans are fully subscribed? I know that FC don't & are not prepared to tackle the problem but platforms like SS & MT may feel they need to address it as they want to continue growing & attracting new money. They could even take AC's approach & effectively write their own to allocate all loans but I do see that as over complicated solution. The really easy solution is to increase the supply of loans to match the lender demand but then all platforms face that challenge.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Jan 4, 2016 16:42:03 GMT
...I realise that there has been a significant change in the operation of the SM. Often by the time available loans appear they are no longer available - it may well not be bots & can be explained by high demand & certain areas of the country having faster internet than others - I don't know the real cause but it can certainly be frustrating & time consuming. Much, much simpler than that. If you wait for the Available Loans page to refresh itself, you will miss most parts - the page only refreshes relatively infrequently. But if you sit there clicking on the link... It's not THAT hard to get in there manually if you're quick enough. Then you watch the runts, especially in unpopular loans, sit there unbought - you can almost hear the thought processes: "If I go for that, what will I miss in the interim?"
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Post by GSV3MIaC on Jan 4, 2016 16:45:41 GMT
I entered 'yes' too, but if they are not banned or throttled then I'll take the 'if you can't get them stopped then join them' approach I employ over at FC.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2016 17:58:07 GMT
There are definitely bots on the SM, I don't think there's much disagreement there. They can't be banned, though. You can quite easily write an automation routine which cannot easily be delineated from a human. 100% my line. I will not use bots if none is present on the SM. But given they do operate I think it is correct to leave everyone use their best skillset. BTW: bots do not alter or change the goals in the primary (raising cash) or secondary markets (support cashflow).
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2016 18:02:15 GMT
I entered 'yes' too, but if they are not banned or throttled then I'll take the 'if you can't get them stopped then join them' approach I employ over at FC. 100% my line. How do you stop them? You could attempt throttling if you were able to detect them..... but how do you detect them if the pull rate is made similar to many advanced refresh screen addons?
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littleoldlady
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Post by littleoldlady on Jan 4, 2016 18:21:28 GMT
BTW: bots do not alter or change the goals in the primary (raising cash) or secondary markets (support cashflow). Quite. I suppose that is why SS are not bovvered about them. As I have said elsewhere I don't like bots because I don't have the skill to write one and they put me at a disadvantage, but perhaps not an unfair disadvantage. They are not illegal nor against the SS T&C.
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). I am not enough of a techy to write one & prefer manual investments but am not happy when this sort of automation means that manual investment becomes impossible, try investing in a small E band loan on FC currently. I haven't been active on SS since the new website/system came in but having spent an hour this afternoon just trying to reinvest a few hundred££ in interest payments I realise that there has been a significant change in the operation of the SM. Often by the time available loans appear they are no longer available - it may well not be bots & can be explained by high demand & certain areas of the country having faster internet than others - I don't know the real cause but it can certainly be frustrating & time consuming. 
