British people famously love to queue, no matter the occasion. Traditionally, this has looked like a long line, such as the Wimbledon tennis queue, or even stampedes, like with the recent Swatch watch disaster.

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Today, most Brits are used to queuing online, whether that’s waiting for hours for the possibility of an Oasis reunion ticket, a trip to Glastonbury or even eating at a restaurant, as customers now join a virtual queue rather than wait outside for an available table.

At the same time, the internet is seeing a rapid increase in automated activity. In Q2 2026 DataDome processed a 45% increase in AI agent requests across its network, bringing the total to over 17 billion requests. Not all AI agents are malicious, but the same technology that allows agents to act on behalf of users can also be used to automate queue entry, monitor availability, and attempt purchases at scale.

As Brits move their queuing online, these bots are increasingly entering virtual waiting rooms, sometimes legitimately and sometimes to gain an unfair advantage. Virtual waiting rooms are intended to recreate the fairness of a physical queue, but many........

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