Why have I been encountering the Bowlder attack?

There are a handful of Grandmasters which are occasionally employing the Bowdler.

Guess what? ALL of them meet 2..e6 with 3.Qe2.

According to the engine Nc3, Nf3, and Qe2 seem to be the top 3 moves. Qe2 has a discovered pin on blacks e-pawn. This prevents d5. I think I'd probably have plans to get a bishop on e7 removing the pin and proceeding with d5 after that. Nf3 doesn't seem that great to me since It allows black to attack the center right away. Nc3 seems like the ideal defense since it forces you to take another approach to scare away the bishop.

If grandmasters are playing Qe2, then there are probably good reasons behind doing so that I'm not aware of.

I think Bowdler attack is inferior, but I wouldn't consider it a blunder either as others have mentioned. I think it makes for more interesting games which is fun. Isn't that what chess is about? Scandinavian Defense isn't optimal by any means, but it isn't so bad that you're destroying yourself.

I've had 3. Qe2 played against me. I would suggest that white could allow ...d5, play exd and follow it up with c4. I don't seem to get into trouble when white commits the Q so early. But most players go with 3. Nc3 to hold up ...d5. I'd then play a6. They then have the choice of a4 or a3. a3 seems the more principled approach since a4 seems to let black get pieces into white's q-side. against a3 I usually try to get b5 and d5 in and the idea for black is to try to block the B on a2 temporarily and get in some kind of central/kingside attack. I would suggest that centralising white's Q with Qe2 is therefore more defensive from white's p.o.v., in the medium term at least. But black will naturally try to open the e file against white's Q. Hence the central attack from black.

I had no idea the Bowdler of 2.Bc4 was the same person who censored Shakespeare. He really has a lot to answer for.

To me the Bowlder is horrible, utterly horrible...and fascinating

There's a point to it. If black plays moves like e6, a6, b5 and then Bb7?!, the B on the a2-f7 diagonal can very often Sacrifice in e6. It's white's secret weapon. So I play Bd7 and not Bb7.

Because learning about the Sicilian is (a lot of) effort.