It seems as if ChipGuide performance is under control. The following actions have been taken:
1) Using .htaccess (a configuration file that is checked each time a request is made to a website) harmful robots have been banned from the website. A harmful robot is one that collects content from a website that in no way benefits the website. Typically, bad actors sell your data to 3rd parties for their marketing efforts. Good robots collect data that can help to increase website presence, like Google or Facebook.
2) I purchased a website traffic analysis tool, at my expense, and daily check website traffic for the presence of any new harmful robots.
3) I learned that a programming function that I was using, GETIMAGESIZE, was adding significant workload to the website. The function is used to determine the size of an image (width and height) so that it can be displayed correctly. But in order to do so, it had to access (download) the entire image. I now go with a default image size, that works but some images may not be displayed correctly. A fix for this will be implemented in the future.
Keeping bad actors off a website is an ongoing process. I am learning enough to just stay ahead of them. Most companies purchase software or a service to perform this function. However it is expensive, costing several thousand dollars per month. But there is good news. We only have this problem because the ChipGuide's popularity is increasing. Becoming more popular, makes your website more attractive to not only good actors but also to bad actors. Now if you do a GOOGLE search on a closed casino, the ChipGuide will be in the top search results, if not at the top. So that is good news.
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