When the bean counter$ first took note of Dead Internet theory, was when it cea$ed to be just a 'theory.' The streaming industry, in particular, began with the watchdogs, study groups, task forces... and their own bots & AI... over a year ago when all the bogus traffic was still (just) under 50%.

Nobody wants to pay for all the fake, non-human traffic, but most are willing to look the other way if it's their payday.