Server Overload from Complex Filtering Requests (Bots/Scrapers)

First, let me compliment you on the amazing plugin. I’ve recently recommended it to another project with very successful results and high client satisfaction. Great work!

I am writing to get your expert opinion or suggestion on a critical performance issue we are experiencing.

The Problem: We utilize a fairly complex filtering setup for a large product catalog, which works flawlessly for our genuine users. However, we have been experiencing significant server utilization spikes that clearly originate from automated bots and scrapers, not regular traffic.

These requests are characterized by:

• Extreme Complexity: Very long and complex filter combinations (e.g., kit-display/size-10-4-or-15-6-or-17or-18-5-or-19-or-21-5/bright-1000-nits-or-1500-nits-or-800-nits/touchtype-projected-capacitive-pcap/).
• Lack of Referrer Data.
• Suspicious Locations/User Agents.

When multiple complex requests hit our server simultaneously, it causes an overload, occasionally resulting in a 502 Bad Gateway error or a complete lack of response. Although we have a robust server setup, the nature of these concurrent, complex requests is crippling performance.

Do you have any recommendations or built-in settings that could help us mitigate this bot/scraper activity? We are looking for measures that would:

1. Maintain the excellent user experience for our legitimate customers.
2. Prevent or obscure the filtering functionality from bad actors like scrapers.

We appreciate any suggestions, settings advice, or potential solutions you can offer to help us stabilize our service. Thank you for your time and consideration! Keep up the great work!