Internet Service Provider (ISP) Lookup
What is an ISP?
An internet service provider (ISP) is the service that connects a user to the internet.
This can be:
- A mobile network like Verizon, AT&T, or Vodafone
- A residential broadband provider like Comcast, BT, or Telstra
- A datacenter or cloud provider like AWS, Google Cloud, or DigitalOcean
How Linkly Records ISPs
Linkly identifies and records the ISP for every visitor that clicks your links.
Detecting Bot Traffic Using ISP Data
ISP data helps identify automated traffic. Visitors from datacenters like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, or DigitalOcean are typically bots or automated scripts, not humans browsing the internet.
We maintain a list of cloud providers we identify.
Unusual Traffic Patterns
It's unusual for more than 5% of traffic to come from any single ISP.
When Linkly detects a high concentration of traffic from one ISP, it displays a warning label on the ISP tab to alert you to potential bot traffic or click fraud.
Limitations
- VPN users — If a visitor uses a VPN, the ISP shown will be the VPN provider's datacenter, not their actual ISP. See VPN Traffic for details.
- Mobile networks — Mobile users often share IP ranges, so you may see many clicks from the same mobile ISP.
Related Articles
- Bot Traffic — Understanding and managing bot traffic
- Cloud Providers — Datacenters Linkly identifies
- VPN Traffic — How VPNs affect ISP detection
ISP Lookup FAQs
How does Linkly identify the ISP?
Linkly looks up the ISP of each connection using IP address databases that map IP ranges to their registered owners.
What ISPs does Linkly identify as cloud providers?
We maintain a list of cloud providers including AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, DigitalOcean, and others.
Why do I see a lot of traffic from a single ISP?
This could indicate bot traffic if the ISP is a cloud provider. For mobile ISPs, it may simply mean many of your users are on the same mobile network. Check the Robots tab to see if this traffic is from bots.
Can I block traffic from specific ISPs?
Linkly doesn't currently support blocking by ISP. However, enabling "Block bots & spiders" will block traffic from known cloud providers and datacenters.