Stability & Metadata Update: Bot Defense, Cleaner Titles, and Better Navigation

Platform Stability: Why We Moved On From Gemini

Earlier, I migrated away from Gemini after it began blocking requests from my server. That decision proved important: the service later reduced free API availability dramatically. By switching early, we avoided a reliability risk and kept the platform stable during high traffic periods.

New Navigation: Sorting and Recent Activity

To improve discovery and reduce bounce rates, the homepage now supports sorting for quicker navigation. I also added a "Last Active" timestamp so users can see recent activity at a glance. To keep performance high, the timestamp updates only for registered users and only when meaningful actions occur, such as logging in, updating a profile, interacting with chat, or browsing personal pages.

Bot Attacks, Bandwidth Waste, and Cost Control

After reviewing abnormal bandwidth usage, I identified the main cause: automated bot traffic generating tens of thousands of requests per day. To stop paying for wasted delivery, I removed CDN-based file serving and switched to direct delivery from the server, which is tuned to handle very high request volumes efficiently.

The bot pressure has not fully disappeared yet, and some automated traffic still generates error-heavy request patterns. I am continuing to tighten filtering and rules to reduce unnecessary load and keep costs predictable.

Metadata Cleanup and Title Consistency: 9,000 Pages Updated

After months of search traffic analysis, I found a core issue with how names were displayed: some pages split clarity between English and Japanese naming instead of presenting a consistent, user-friendly title. This made browsing less predictable and reduced consistency across the site.

This release updates metadata across 9,000 existing pages, including page titles, H1 headings, and key tags. The new approach uses combined naming where both versions are useful for readers, and clear single-language naming where it performs better. Importantly, URLs remain unchanged to avoid risky migrations, while visible titles and metadata are standardized for long-term consistency.

UI Improvements and Lean Performance

We also improved the "Related" section to make content easier to scan: larger images, cleaner layout, and better text placement. Because the platform is built with custom code (not a CMS), changes can be shipped quickly, performance can be optimized aggressively, and issues can be fixed without bloat.

Thank you for supporting the project. Your feedback helps shape the next releases.