The Internet is the greatest communication tool that mankind has ever invented. As of June 30, 2012, there were almost 2.5 billion humans connected to the Internet. That number has most assuredly risen significantly since then thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices in emerging markets, like China and India. Even then, it would appear that we’re still in the minority when it comes to populating the Web.

A report out of Incapsula has found that humans only make up 40 percent of all Web traffic. The other 60 percent comes from bots. Just let that sink in for a moment – the Web that humans created is no longer dominated by them. Instead, the bots used for deeds both good and bad now eclipse us in the digital world.

In an even more amazing revelation, Usabilla says that bot traffic increased 21 percent between the end of 2012 to the end of 2013. Thankfully, most of that increase came from good bots, like those employed by search engines. Of course, it’s not all good news as the number of spammers and other impersonator bots both saw growth in the last year.

Here’s the full breakdown:

As pointed out by usabilla, these findings should cause some concern for online marketers. With so many bots on the Web, how can you be sure that your message is being seen by human eyes? Not much, but it’s something they’ll have to keep in mind. Not only does it affect their marketing efforts, but it affects their brand integrity when spammers and other malicious bots start showing up at once trusted Web sites.

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