In the digital age, hotels increasingly rely on online channels to connect with guests. Web forms have become a popular tool for collecting email addresses, allowing hotels to build customer databases and engage in targeted email marketing. However, the rise of web bots poses a significant threat to the integrity of these databases and the overall effectiveness of email campaigns. 

What Are Web Bots?

Web bots, also known as internet bots or simply bots, are automated software applications programmed to perform tasks over the internet. While some bots serve legitimate purposes, such as indexing websites for search engines or monitoring online prices, others are malicious. Malicious bots can scrape data, conduct cyber-attacks, and, notably, exploit web forms to inject false or harmful information into hotel databases.

How Web Bots Exploit Web Forms

Injection of Invalid or Malicious Emails

Web bots can submit web forms en masse with fabricated or harvested email addresses. This can lead to a database filled with invalid, non-existent, or even malicious email addresses. These entries may not have consented to receive communications, violating data privacy laws and regulations.

Spoofing and Phishing Risks

Some bots can inject legitimate-looking email addresses that belong to real people. If these individuals receive unsolicited emails, they may mark the messages as spam, damaging the sender's domain and IP reputation. In worse scenarios, these emails could be used for phishing, putting both the hotel and the recipient at risk.

Impact on Email Campaign Performance

Sending emails to a compromised database can lead to high bounce rates, low engagement, and a surge in spam complaints. These factors can significantly affect the deliverability of future campaigns, leading to reduced open rates and diminished ROI. Moreover, persistent issues can result in blacklisting, further impairing the hotel's ability to reach its audience.

Risks to CRM and Email Campaign Performance

Data Integrity

The presence of bot-injected emails compromises the quality of the CRM data. Poor data integrity can lead to inaccurate reporting, misguided marketing strategies, and wasted resources.

Legal and Compliance Issues

Sending emails to individuals who have not consented to receive them can lead to violations of regulations like GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and others. Non-compliance can result in hefty fines and legal repercussions.

Reputation Damage

A tarnished domain and IP reputation can reduce the hotel's ability to reach genuine customers. This damage can take considerable time and effort to repair, impacting overall brand reputation and customer trust.

Protecting Your Web Forms

To safeguard against web bots, hoteliers should work with their website teams to ensure security features are added to all website webforms.

reCAPTCHA or Honey-Pot Solution Implementation

Adding CAPTCHA challenges to web forms can help verify that the submitter is a human and not a bot. A honeypot solution acts as a decoy by attracting web bots to a hidden or fake web form field, which legitimate users typically don't interact with. When bots fill out this field, they can be easily identified and blocked, helping to maintain the integrity and security of the actual data collected.

Double Opt-In

Implementing a double opt-in process ensures that only genuine and interested parties are added to the mailing list. It also helps in verifying the validity of the submitted email addresses.

Monitoring and Filtering

Regularly monitor the email submissions for patterns indicative of bot activity. Use filtering mechanisms to flag suspicious submissions for further review.

IP and Geolocation Filtering

Restrict form submissions from certain IP ranges or geolocations if your hotel does not typically serve those regions. This can reduce the likelihood of receiving bot-generated entries.

Data Validation Tools

Utilize tools to validate email addresses. Although email validation won't protect your database from harvested valid emails, it can remove invalid bot injected emails. 

Conclusion

Web bots pose a significant threat to the integrity of hotel web forms and the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns. By understanding these risks and implementing preventive measures, hoteliers can protect their CRM systems and ensure that their email campaigns reach the right audience. Maintaining a clean, consent-based database is crucial for sustaining positive relationships with guests and safeguarding the hotel's reputation in the long run.