33% Less Bot Traffic & Lower Costs: How Wellfound Gains Time & Tranquility with DataDome

The challenge: Keeping job data safe from sophisticated scrapers

Scraping is a constant threat that can be costly for job search companies. Platforms such as Wellfound, which list job offers in start-ups and collect large amounts of user-generated data, are prime targets for automated bots. Scrapers gather content from these sites to republish or resell it elsewhere. 

“It’s a very lucrative market,” explains Björn Rochel, Senior Engineering Manager at Wellfound. “Job and startup data, like on LinkedIn, is heavily crawled on all job portals.” 

At the time, Wellfound relied on a general-purpose solution to reduce bot traffic. But as bots continued to evolve, they needed more sophisticated defenses.

Infrastructure costs grew significantly due to the huge amount of unwanted traffic passing through Wellfound’s website. “We really needed to reduce these costs quickly and drastically,” Björn explains. But the IT team also had to ensure that real users were protected and that bad actors couldn’t drain resources. 

“Our infrastructure team consists of two engineers and me,” says Björn. “So we needed a self-contained solution that required as little maintenance work from our side as possible.”

To combat sophisticated scraping that was impacting its performance, Wellfound began searching for a proactive and effective Cyberfraud Protection Platform.

The solution: Seamless protection that scales with the threat

When Björn joined Wellfound in early 2022, DataDome was already in place, but it didn’t take long for him to see its impact. From the outset, the solution had integrated seamlessly into the company’s infrastructure. “It worked very well right from the start,” he remembers. This quiet reliability has been invaluable to the infrastructure team. 

After a few adjustments to reduce false positives, DataDome and Wellfound hit their stride. “The system saves us a lot of work, which is why we are happy customers!” Björn explains. 

Now, with more than three years of collaboration and a renewed contract in place, he considers DataDome a trusted partner. And that’s largely thanks to the excellent relationship he has with the support team. “They’re knowledgeable, caring people. They don’t just tick boxes and give you canned answers,” notes the Senior Engineering Manager. “You feel like they’re really trying to help you understand what’s going on.”

Despite evolving threats and the widespread adoption of AI-based scraping tools, Wellfound has never felt behind. That’s because DataDome’s proactive approach, which relies on a multi-layered AI detection engine powered by 5 trillion signals a day, has allowed Björn’s team to stay focused on development rather than defense.

The results: Scraper-free, stress-free, & ready for the future

Thanks to DataDome’s protection, the change has been tangible at Wellfound. Bjorn estimates that since implementing DataDome, incoming bot traffic has decreased by about a third, which has lightened the load on their infrastructure and contributed to a noticeable reduction in associated costs. Plus, bad bots are blocked and never able to land on their site. 

“No more scrapers, no more crawlers: it’s great news for our business!” he says. 

In addition to these infrastructure savings, the entire team has gained valuable time savings. Not having to monitor a bot protection tool saved them several hours each week. In the rare cases where something requires intervention, DataDome’s support team responds quickly: “We are notified when there is a problem, but usually it has already been resolved.”

Automation, transparency, proactivity, and hands-on support have created a strong climate of trust, which was confirmed during contract renewal discussions. “At a critical time when we needed to optimize our costs, DataDome showed exceptional flexibility and support. This collaborative approach goes far beyond the product itself, and it sets them apart from all other vendors I have worked with.”

Above all, DataDome has given Wellfound something that is difficult to quantify but essential: peace of mind in the face of AI-driven cyber threats. “You’re in a race against the AI on the other side,” explains Björn. “And I’d rather not have to run that race myself. I’m confident because I know DataDome is running it for us, and they’re winning.”

Bots don’t wait. Why should you? Run a free Vulnerability Scan and uncover blind spots before attackers do.