diff --git a/includes/class-tmdo-rest-api.php b/includes/class-tmdo-rest-api.php
index e135fb5..e2b949b 100644
--- a/includes/class-tmdo-rest-api.php
+++ b/includes/class-tmdo-rest-api.php
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
  */
 class TMDO_REST_API {
 
+	/** Blocked views are counted 1 in this many (wpdo_rl_stats). */
+	private const RL_STATS_SAMPLE = 10;
+
 	const NAMESPACE = 'wpdo/v1';
 
 	/**
@@ -725,14 +728,18 @@ class TMDO_REST_API {
 
 		if ( $cookie_blocked || $ip_blocked ) {
 			// Track rate-limit hits per post for admin visibility, capped at 100 entries.
-			$rl_stats                      = get_option( 'wpdo_rl_stats', array() );
-			$rl_stats[ (string) $post_id ] = ( (int) ( $rl_stats[ (string) $post_id ] ?? 0 ) ) + 1;
-			if ( count( $rl_stats ) > 100 ) {
-				// Keep only the top-100 posts by hit count to bound option size.
-				arsort( $rl_stats );
-				$rl_stats = array_slice( $rl_stats, 0, 100, true );
+			// Sampled (1 in RL_STATS_SAMPLE, each sample adding RL_STATS_SAMPLE) so
+			// anonymous requests cannot turn every blocked view into an option write.
+			if ( 1 === wp_rand( 1, self::RL_STATS_SAMPLE ) ) {
+				$rl_stats                      = get_option( 'wpdo_rl_stats', array() );
+				$rl_stats[ (string) $post_id ] = ( (int) ( $rl_stats[ (string) $post_id ] ?? 0 ) ) + self::RL_STATS_SAMPLE;
+				if ( count( $rl_stats ) > 100 ) {
+					// Keep only the top-100 posts by hit count to bound option size.
+					arsort( $rl_stats );
+					$rl_stats = array_slice( $rl_stats, 0, 100, true );
+				}
+				update_option( 'wpdo_rl_stats', $rl_stats, false );
 			}
-			update_option( 'wpdo_rl_stats', $rl_stats, false );
 
 			return new WP_REST_Response(
 				array(
diff --git a/tests/unit/RestApiTest.php b/tests/unit/RestApiTest.php
index 64d947f..b30cf7c 100644
--- a/tests/unit/RestApiTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/RestApiTest.php
@@ -377,7 +377,11 @@ class RestApiTest extends TestCase {
 		$this->assertSame( 'too_many_requests', $response->get_data()['code'] );
 	}
 
-	public function test_post_view_429_increments_rate_limit_stats(): void {
+	/**
+	 * Blocked requests are counted 1 in 10 (each sample adds 10), so anonymous
+	 * traffic cannot turn every blocked request into an option write.
+	 */
+	public function test_post_view_429_samples_rate_limit_stats(): void {
 		$GLOBALS['_wp_post_types'][40] = 'hp_listing';
 		$_COOKIE['wpdo_view_40']       = '1'; // Trigger cookie block.
 		$nonce = wp_create_nonce( 'wp_rest' );
@@ -385,10 +389,17 @@ class RestApiTest extends TestCase {
 		$req = new WP_REST_Request( 'POST', '/wpdo/v1/listings/40/view' );
 		$req->set_param( 'id', 40 );
 		$req->set_header( 'X-WP-Nonce', $nonce );
-		$this->api->post_view( $req );
+		$writes = 0;
+		for ( $i = 0; $i < 200; $i++ ) {
+			$before = get_option( 'wpdo_rl_stats', [] );
+			$this->assertSame( 429, $this->api->post_view( $req )->get_status() );
+			$writes += get_option( 'wpdo_rl_stats', [] ) === $before ? 0 : 1;
+		}
 
-		$stats = get_option( 'wpdo_rl_stats', [] );
-		$this->assertSame( 1, (int) ( $stats['40'] ?? 0 ) );
+		$count = (int) ( get_option( 'wpdo_rl_stats', [] )['40'] ?? 0 );
+		$this->assertSame( 10 * $writes, $count, 'each sample adds 10' );
+		$this->assertGreaterThan( 0, $writes );
+		$this->assertLessThan( 60, $writes, 'about 20 writes for 200 blocked requests, not 200' );
 	}
 
 	// ── get_status: rate_limit_stats ─────────────────────────────────────────