spambot

American  

[spam-bot] / ˈspæmˌbɒt /

noun

Computers.

1. a device or program that automates widespread distribution of unwanted promotional content or other spam, as by crawling the internet for email addresses to target or by anonymously posting in forums and comment sections of web pages.

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Etymology

Origin of spambot

First recorded in 1990–95; spam (in the sense “disruptive online messages, usually commercial”) + bot ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

He has the voice down pat: the cheerful, soulless “Hello!” of a spambot inviting you into an abyssal call center from which you may never return.

From Washington Post • Mar. 18, 2019

Stripped of this context, Bush takes on the tragicomic desperation of a spambot trying to lure human followers by associating itself with search-engine-optimized keywords.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 7, 2016

Tinder has publicly acknowledged its spambot problem, and has previously vowed a crackdown.

From The Verge • Mar. 31, 2015

When he tweets to ask them to take the spambot down, the response is “We prefer the term infomorph.”

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2015

Written by humans to sound like a spambot, it racked up more than 200,000 followers and earned its creators a New Yorker profile.

From Forbes • Feb. 25, 2014