LinkedIn has implemented advanced algorithms and machine learning models to detect automated activity on their platform. If you have received a notice from LinkedIn stating that they think you are using automation tools, there are a few potential reasons why this may have occurred.
You are interacting too quickly
One of the main signals LinkedIn uses to detect automation is the speed of actions on their site. Their systems expect human users to have natural pauses and breaks between activities like sending connection requests, messaging contacts, liking/commenting on posts, etc. If you are performing these actions too quickly without breaks in between, their algorithms may flag your activity as potentially automated.
For example, if you send out 50 connection requests back-to-back within a span of 1 minute, LinkedIn’s systems will likely identify this as bot-like behavior. However, if you spaced those connection requests over a few hours or days, it would appear more human.
You are repeating similar actions over and over
In addition to the speed of actions, LinkedIn also looks for repetitive patterns of behavior. Bots and automation tools often repeat the same activity over and over without much variation. If you are copy-pasting the same message to a batch of connections, liking posts in a systematic loop, or following a predictable pattern of actions, you may get flagged for automation.
Varying your actions and adding more human-like randomness can help avoid triggering the automation detection algorithms. For example, changing up the wording in your messages, organically engaging with different types of content, and adding natural time delays between actions can make your activity appear less bot-like.
You are not behaving like a human
LinkedIn’s AI closely analyzes user activity to determine if it resembles natural human behavior patterns. Bots and automation tools often lack the nuances of real people. Some ways your activity may appear artificially automated include:
- Liking or commenting on posts within seconds of them being posted
- Following, connecting with, or messaging people you have no previous engagement with
- Little to no variation in the time of day you are active on LinkedIn
- Minimal breaks in your usage throughout the day
- Disproportionately more 2nd and 3rd-degree connections compared to 1st degree connections
Adding more human elements like random time delays, direct engagement with new connections, commenting thoughtfully on content, and using LinkedIn at varying times throughout the day can help you appear more human to their algorithms.
Your account information seems suspicious
In addition to behavioral patterns, LinkedIn also analyzes account information to detect potential automation. Some signals your account may be flagged for include:
- Default profile photo
- Limited profile information
- Few endorsements and recommendations
- Generic or duplicated content on your profile
- A large spike in growth of your network or engagement
Making sure your profile is fully filled out with unique content, adding a real photo of yourself, gaining genuine endorsements, and growing your network steadily over time can help avoid setting off any automation alarms.
You are taking automated actions through the LinkedIn UI
LinkedIn’s algorithms look for any programmatic ways of interacting with their UI and taking automated actions. Even if you are manually clicking and typing, if you are relying on automation aids and browser extensions to expedite your activity, LinkedIn may still detect this as bot-like behavior. Some examples include:
- Auto-connection or auto-messaging tools
- Browser extensions or scripts that automate liking, commenting, etc.
- Scraping tools that rapidly extract data from LinkedIn profiles
- Keyboard/mouse macro recorders to replay sequences of actions
Any tool or technique that allows arbitrarily fast and repetitive actions through LinkedIn’s UI can potentially trigger their automation alarms. Avoid relying on any kind of automation aids and stick to purely manual interaction for the most natural human-like behavior.
You are sending traffic to LinkedIn from unexpected sources
LinkedIn monitors the sources of incoming traffic to their platform to detect any patterns suspicious of automation. If you are sending traffic to LinkedIn from sources like:
- Server farms or cloud computing instances
- Residential proxies or bot nets
- Automated scripts or web crawling programs
This can appear like non-human traffic to their systems. It’s best to access LinkedIn from normal consumer IP addresses like your home or office internet connection.
Your account has been flagged for suspicious activity before
Once your account has been flagged for automation or spam-like activity, LinkedIn will keep you under closer scrutiny going forward. Previous violations of their terms of service or confirmed automation will cause their algorithms to be hyper-vigilant for any slight indication of automation from your account again.
If you’ve been flagged before, you need to be extra careful to interact with LinkedIn in an overtly human fashion with plenty of randomness and natural variation in timing of actions. One innocent mistake can trigger heightened suspicion of automation much quicker for accounts with a history of violations.
You are taking actions rapidly across many accounts
If you are managing multiple accounts and rapidly performing actions across all of them, LinkedIn may detect this pattern of lockstep coordination as automation. Their systems look for correlations in behavior across accounts that indicate centralized control via automation.
Avoid closely coordinating actions across accounts and allow each account to behave independently with its own random delays and human-like activity patterns.
How to avoid getting flagged as using automation tools
Here are some tips to make your LinkedIn activity appear more human and avoid automated detection:
- Insert random delays between actions, varying from minutes to hours
- Schedule activity at different times of day, on weekdays and weekends
- Vary wording in messages, comments, and content
- Directly engage with new connections before attempting to message them
- Perform a diverse mix of activities like liking, commenting, sharing, etc.
- Only use LinkedIn’s official interfaces – no tools, extensions, or scripts
- Access LinkedIn from consumer IP addresses like home or cellular networks
The key is to avoid repetitive, systematic patterns of behavior and introduce plenty of randomness and human elements in your activity. Mimic how real people naturally interact with LinkedIn.
Appealing automation detections
If you believe LinkedIn has incorrectly flagged your account for automation, here are some steps to appeal:
- Review LinkedIn’s user agreement to ensure you have not violated any terms
- Double check that you are not using any form of automation aids, tools, or services
- Submit an appeal request to LinkedIn documenting that your activity is strictly human-driven
- Highlight aspects of your behavior that demonstrate human qualities
- If possible, provide screenshots showing natural timing of actions
- Emphasize that you manually type messages and interact directly with new connections
- Request a review of any system logs that show timing and details of your actions
- Ask that LinkedIn reconsider the ban and restore your account
Though the appeal process is not guaranteed to work, being persistent and emphasizing the human aspects of your use of LinkedIn can help demonstrate that their automated detection was mistaken in your case.
Conclusion
LinkedIn prioritizes creating a platform for genuine human engagement and frowns upon any perceived automation. Their advanced algorithms closely analyze user behavior for patterns indicative of bots, spam, scrapers, or any inauthentic activity. Getting flagged for automation is frustrating but can be avoided and appealed with some adjustments to how you interact with LinkedIn.
The main strategies are to:
- Vary timing of actions randomly like a human would
- Avoid repetitive, systematic patterns in your activity
- Directly engage with new connections before messaging
- Access LinkedIn from normal consumer IP addresses
- Write unique content for your profile and messages
- Use LinkedIn’s official interfaces without any automation aids
With enough randomness and natural human behavior, you can avoid triggering LinkedIn’s automation detection and continue growing your network and presence authentically.