Websites - 403 error when visiting a website
Recently, DPG has experienced a significant increase in bot traffic, primarily from automated systems attempting to scrape content for unauthorised use in AI models. Although we clearly instruct these bots not to access website content, many are unscrupulous and ignore those rules. This isn’t a DPG-specific issue; it’s part of a wider problem affecting websites across the entire web.
To combat this, we've implemented various features to detect, trap, and block them. Unfortunately, this can sometimes affect genuine users.
Why you might be blocked
Shared IP addresses
Some bots use shared or cloud-hosted IP addresses. If you're using one of these, you may be mistakenly caught up in our filters.Frequent visits to your own site
If you're a site owner and often browse your own site, our system might (incorrectly) assume you're a bot.
What you can do
Quick fix
Switch to a different internet connection (for example, mobile data or another Wi-Fi network).
The block is tied to your current IP address, so this should restore access immediately.Contact us
If you're seeing a 403 error screen, please email us to report the issue.- Include your current IP address – you can find it using this tool.
This helps us identify what triggered the block and remove it if necessary.
- Include your current IP address – you can find it using this tool.