Strava declares war on skimmers ahead of its IPO

Artificial Intelligence companies have grown into… Data-hungry entities Their models require ever larger data sets to train on. To meet this need, many AI startups are challenging old Internet conventions – e.g Respect robots.txt fileswhich flags automated crawlers for blocked website parts – and Aggressively scrape data. This has forced websites to do so Restrict access to their data In some cases, Strike license deals With artificial intelligence companies. Fitness and social running company Strava is taking a step in this direction by restricting its website and charging developers access.

To stop the deletion process, the company is increasing the security around its website and will now only allow authorized users to view certain data. Earlier, users were able to see details like public profiles and fitness club listings without logging in. The company puts all that data behind authentication to protect it from unauthorized extraction by AI.

On the API front, developers could previously start building apps on Strava through a free tiered access program — applying for basic access first, then requesting more as their app grows. The company is now adding a flat fee of $11.99 per month for all developers, though it notes that the price may vary by geographic region.

Strava said its developer community has grown from 185,000 members last year to 241,000 this year, and the company plans to continue supporting them. As part of this, Strava also plans to add support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an emerging standard that allows AI assistants and apps to access external data in a structured way, giving Strava more control over exactly what is shared and how it is shared.

The company also plans to Retired some API endpoints – Separate access points that allow external applications to pull specific data, such as club details – to protect user data. Strava has already tightened its API rules in 2024, banning its use to train AI and restricting third-party apps from viewing other users’ data. I noticed those changes backlash From developers who said their apps would be severely affected.

While some developers may accept a subscription fee, deprecating certain API endpoints may impact dependent applications. Strava gives developers a 90-day grace period before making these changes.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Strava CEO Michael Martin said that unsupervised AI scraping could be the death knell for the public internet.

“AI companies are ruthlessly deleting public sites due to their endless need for training data, degrading site performance across the board,” Martin said. We have seen several instances in the past few months where performance has diminished and, in some cases, weakened. In addition to deleting public sites, they also try to use our API to access our data, ignoring the terms of the API.

He noted that Strava has rejected overtures from leading AI labs seeking data licensing deals. He specifically singled out Perplexity, saying the AI ​​search startup routed its mining through aggregation services to hide its origin despite its disapproval. This is consistent with the accusation of confusion Similar behavior Elsewhere in the past.

Martin also flagged server overload caused by poorly built dynamically coded applications, whose API calls are often inefficiently structured and generate a disproportionate load on Strava’s systems. It’s a pattern: when dead Blocked third-party chatbots From WhatsApp last year, I made a similar argument about system overload.

The timing is probably not a coincidence. Strava It secretly filed for public offering Earlier this year, its move to protect its data may have been intended to signal data discipline to potential investors. The comparison to Reddit’s 2024 crackdown on API access is one that Martin was quick to address. Unlike Reddit, which priced API access by the number of calls (making it Can’t stand it For many app developers), Strava is betting that flat fees keep the developer ecosystem healthy.

“We want users to feel like they own their data and feel comfortable with how it’s controlled and secured,” Martin said. “But we want developers to continue to thrive and grow.”