Google is Changing reCAPTCHA for the Better

How many times have you come across a website’s contact form to be met with a reCAPTCHA field at the end? We’re also sure that you are familiar with clicking that little “I’m not a robot” box as well. Have you ever wondered what this section is for? Well, as the little box says, it’s to make sure that you are not some robot looking to spam the website owner’s email.

A reCAPTCHA field makes sure that actual people are submitting a request to you. It makes it impossible for a malicious program to enter information into your contact form and send you unwanted messages, or worse, viruses. In 2009, Google acquired this technology and now they are giving it a much-needed upgrade.

How reCAPTCHA Used to Work

The reCAPTCHA program has seen various updates over the years. In the beginning, the system displayed an image where the letters were made up from several photos. It would form two different words that usually had no correlation with one another. Users would then type those words in and click the “I’m not a robot” box to complete the form.

As time moved on and Google acquired the technology, they begin finding new ways to circumnavigate updated robots. Around 2012, they started used photos with house number acquired from Google street view. Two years later, they changed the system by having users identify certain photos in a group of pictures.

What Is the Invisible reCAPTCHA?

This year, Google is rolling out what seems to be the ultimate update to its anti-spam technology. It requires almost no user interaction at all … unless you are displaying suspicious behavior.

Back in 2014, the company created the noCAPTCHA reCAPTCHA. This eliminated all of the tests and security tricky fields meant to keep away sophisticated robots. All users needed to do was check the “I’m not a robot” box and submit their request. How was this new system more secure than previous versions? That’s pretty easy to understand.

Using its new learning and improved risk analysis engine, the system analyzes your browsing behavior. If it believes that you are a human, then you will be able to fill out your form without going through a variety of security fields. However, if it can’t accurately predict your behavior, the engine will see you as suspicious. As a result, it will present you with the CAPTCHA that you are normally used to filling out.

The latest update seeks to eliminate user interactions with the reCAPTCHA altogether. Even the “I’m not a robot” box no longer appears on the user’s screen. Users simply fill out the contact form. This new tech is constantly learning. The more people who fill out contact forms, the more the system is able to determine the difference between someone who it real and one who isn’t.

The “Invisible reCAPTCHA” is set to release sometime this year.