New turn in RealReal agent test as bot defense is changed

This started with a test by The Verge. It used the Meta agent Muse to add an item to a cart again each time the 20 minute hold ended. This stopped other shoppers from buying for hours.

The RealReal, a secondhand luxury clothing shop, updated its bot defense. This came days after The Verge showed that the Meta agent Muse could hold items for hours. Bot defense is software that stops visitors that are not persons. Luke Friang, the chief technology officer, said the new setup makes it much less easy for all agents to get in and check out. Friang gave no test results.

How the hold worked

An item goes on hold for 20 minutes when a user puts it in a cart. The Verge told Muse to add the item again each time the hold ended. Other shoppers could not buy the item for hours or more.

Why agents matter

Meta said this month that buying is the primary use of Muse, with purchases of more than $200 on average. Meta also said 10 million persons in the US downloaded the app in 40 days. Amazon has stopped agents from buying on its site.

What is not known

Friang said agents can show RealReal listings and send Muse users to item pages. The company will continue to add protections. It is not known if the new defense works correctly. Meta had no comment at this time.

Insight: Shops want agents as a shop window, not as a buyer

HUMAN data says Muse makes an average of 72% of the AI agent requests each day. Amazon stops Muse. Walmart built a gateway where a customer gives approval to each agent. The RealReal lets agents read listings but not control the cart. This seems to show that shops want agents to send shoppers to pages, but not to control the sale.