Google Updates CAPTCHA API to Weed Out Robots

Upon realizing that the dreaded CAPTCHA box was in desperate need of an upgrade, Google has introduced an API called "No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA."

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Date published
December 03, 2014 Categories

Years ago, as a safety measure to ensure that robots could not crawl gated content or access online shopping carts, Google implemented the much-recognized CAPTCHA box with distorted numbers and letters. Users would then need to enter the information shown in the box to prove they weren’t robots, which often took multiple attempts. Now, realizing that the dreaded distorted box was in need of an upgrade, Google has released an API called “No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA.”

The new version is much simpler and only requires that users check a box that says: “I am not a robot”.

The API is now available for webmasters to integrate into their existing sites.

Why the Need for CAPTCHAs?

Google’s previous solution for CAPTCHAs relied heavily on a robot’s inability to decipher distorted text. However, the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has now made it possible for robots to solve very difficult distorted text at an accuracy of 99.8 percent.

In order to counterbalance the evolution of AI, Google developed an in-depth backend for CAPTCHA, which took into consideration a user’s entire engagement to help determine if they were a robot or not.

The New Phase of CAPTCHA

Google’s new API is appears to be deceivingly simple. However, if the risk analysis engine is unable to determine if the user is a human or a robot, it will increase the security checkpoints in order to determine validity.

Ease of use on mobile is also a significant upgrade with Google’s new API. Instead of trying to read the distorted text on your device, you will be asked to select all of the images that correspond with the clue provided.

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