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Crowdsourced Bot Network IP Database API
A continuously updated, community-fed database of known bot network IP ranges and residential proxy endpoints, accessible via API. Users contribute detected bot IPs and query the database for IP reputation checks, with auto-sync capabilities for Google Ads exclusion lists. The database grows more valuable with each user contribution.
Why this matters
You manage online ad campaigns and have slowly built up an IP exclusion list of hundreds or thousands of known bot networks. You did this manually, one campaign at a time, discovering each bot IP after it already wasted your budget. You wonder why there isn't a shared database where advertisers pool their collective knowledge of bot networks. When you find a new bot IP, you want to contribute it so others don't have to learn the hard way. You also want to benefit from others' discoveries automatically, syncing new bot IPs to your exclusion list without lifting a finger.
- · Built for Developers and marketers running online ad campaigns who currently maintain manual IP exclusion lists, plus ad-tech companies needing IP reputation data.
- · Most likely monetization: Freemium API (free tier with rate limits, paid for bulk queries and auto-sync).
The Pain · Narrative
You manage online ad campaigns and have slowly built up an IP exclusion list of hundreds or thousands of known bot networks. You did this manually, one campaign at a time, discovering each bot IP after it already wasted your budget. You wonder why there isn't a shared database where advertisers pool their collective knowledge of bot networks. When you find a new bot IP, you want to contribute it so others don't have to learn the hard way. You also want to benefit from others' discoveries automatically, syncing new bot IPs to your exclusion list without lifting a finger.
Score Breakdown
Market Signal
Go-to-Market
Solo marketers and developers who manually maintain Google Ads IP exclusion lists and have at least 100 entries
~30K advertisers globally maintain manual exclusion lists, with potential to expand to all self-serve ad buyers
Hacker News launch emphasizing the shared-database and community angle, followed by SEO targeting 'Google Ads bot exclusion' long-tail queries
$19/month for auto-sync with up to 10K API queries, free tier for manual lookups
100 API users and 500 community-submitted bot IP ranges within 30 days
MVP Scope · 1–2 weeks
- Design PostgreSQL schema for IP ranges with reporter tracking, confidence scores, and timestamps
- Build REST API with endpoints: GET /ip-reputation, POST /report-bot-ip, GET /exclusion-list
- Seed database with known datacenter IP ranges from public ASN data
- Create simple web UI for searching IPs and viewing community contributions
- Set up rate limiting and basic API key authentication
- Build Google Ads exclusion list export in Google Ads-compatible CSV format
- Add webhook system for auto-syncing new bot IPs to users' Google Ads accounts
- Implement confidence scoring algorithm based on independent reporter count and time decay
- Create community leaderboard showing top contributors to gamify submissions
- Write launch post emphasizing the '4000 networks maintained manually' pain point
Differentiation
Why This Might Fail
Self-rebuttal — the most important trust signal
- 1IP-based detection is becoming obsolete as bot operators shift to residential proxies from compromised consumer devices, meaning the database's core asset (IP ranges) loses value over time
- 2Established IP reputation vendors like MaxMind and IPQualityScore already have massive databases and could add a community-contribution feature quickly if they see the threat
- 3The database could be poisoned by malicious submissions — competitors could submit legitimate publisher IPs as bots, and without expensive verification, false positives would erode trust
Evidence Summary
How AI synthesized this insight — no verbatim quotes
One commenter explicitly described maintaining over 4000 manually excluded IP networks just in the US, and another directly asked whether a shared database exists. A third user suggested a site called knock-knock.net as similar but limited. Multiple commenters (~4) explained that bot networks increasingly use residential proxies from trojan-infected smart TVs, routers, and consumer software, making pure IP-range blocking less effective over time. The clear gap is a community-fed, ad-fraud-specific IP database with auto-sync to ad platforms, though the residential proxy trend threatens the long-term viability of any IP-centric approach.
Action Plan
Validate this opportunity before writing code
Recommended Next Step
Validate
Promising signals, but needs confirmation. Create a landing page, collect email sign-ups, then decide.
Landing Page Copy Kit
Ready-to-paste copy based on real Reddit community language — no editing required
Headline
Crowdsourced Bot Network IP Database API
Sub-headline
A continuously updated, community-fed database of known bot network IP ranges and residential proxy endpoints, accessible via API. Users contribute detected bot IPs and query the database for IP reputation checks, with auto-sync capabilities for Google Ads exclusion lists. The database grows more valuable with each user contribution.
Who It's For
For Developers and marketers running online ad campaigns who currently maintain manual IP exclusion lists, plus ad-tech companies needing IP reputation data
Feature List
✓ REST API for batch IP reputation queries returning bot probability score ✓ Community submission endpoint where users report confirmed bot IPs ✓ Auto-sync integration with Google Ads IP exclusion settings ✓ Historical tracking of bot network migration patterns ✓ Confidence scoring based on number of independent reporters
Where to Validate
Share your landing page in r/HN · front_page — that's exactly where these pain points were discovered.
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