Google’s reCAPTCHA turns invisible!

You’ve probably seen and used CAPTCHAs thousands of times on sign-up pages across the Web; in order to separate humans from spam bots, a challenge will pop up asking you to decipher a picture of words or numbers, pick out objects in a grid of pictures, or just click a checkbox. Say goodbye to CAPTCHA’s as you know them. Google isn’t getting rid of them, but Google is making them invisible. The old reCAPTCHA system was pretty easy—just a simple “I’m not a robot” checkbox would get people through your sign-up page. The new version is even more straightforward, and it doesn’t use a challenge or checkbox. It works invisibly in the background, somehow, to identify bots from humans. Google bought reCAPTCHA in 2009 and was used to put unsuspecting website users to work for Google. As website developers switch over to the invisible CAPTCHA system, most users won’t see CAPTCHAs at all, not even the “I’m not a robot” checkbox. If you are flagged as “suspicious” by the system, then it will display the usual challenges. Human users will be let through without seeing the “I’m not a robot” checkbox, while suspicious ones and bots still have to solve the challenges. reCAPTCHA Version 3 is a free service that protects your website from spam and abuse. reCAPTCHA uses an advanced risk analysis engine and adaptive CAPTCHAs to keep automated software from engaging in abusive activities on your site. It does this while letting your valid users pass through with ease.