Have you ever tried to go to a website but you were stopped beforehand in order to prove you are not a robot?
Well, what is happening behind the scenes may surprise you. Here’s what really happens when you check the “I’m not a robot” box.
What is reCAPTCHA?
The “I’m not a robot” checkbox is a CAPTCHA, or a “Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart.”
Essentially any type of test, whether it’s selecting the image with stoplights or typing out a word that’s blurry, is a CAPTCHA, which is used to stop bots.
reCAPTCHA, which you might recognize from the “I’m not a robot” checkbox, is the specific CAPTCHA program from Google that is used by millions of sites.
How does reCAPTCHA work?
So how does the “I’m not a robot” CAPTCHA actually work?
It’s not actually the act of clicking “I’m not a robot” that confirms you’re not a bot. It’s what happens before you click it.
“When you click on that checkbox, the site sends back a bunch of information to Google,” John Lloyd, chief technology officer of Casaba Security, told Reader’s Digest.
This information can be your cursor movement as you go to click that checkbox (apparently humans move their cursors with more randomness than a computer), your cookies and device history, according to Cloudflare.
Google uses that information to determine the probability that you are a human or a robot. Google then sends that score to the website, and if the score is high enough, you’ll be let into the site.
Simply put, by clicking “I’m not a robot,” you are giving Google permission to analyze your online behavior to determine if you are a human.
Can AI solve CAPTCHAs?
Ironically, it turns out robots may be better at proving that they aren’t robots than humans.
A July 2023 study by researchers at the at the University of California found that AI bots were more efficient at solving CAPTCHAs than humans.
By comparing the speed and accuracy of 1,400 participants versus AI bots in solving 14,000 CAPTCHAs, the researchers found that bots were far better than humans at beating these tests.
The bots were 99.8 accurate while humans ranged from 50% to 84% accuracy.
FAQs
A 2020 episode of QI gave a rather surprising explanation of what ticking 'I am not a robot' on a website really does. They said that it gives a website permission to look at your actions and history on your device to decide if you are human.
What happens when I press I am not a robot? ›
Simply put, by clicking “I'm not a robot,” you are giving Google permission to analyze your online behavior to determine if you are a human.
What happens if you click allow if you are not a robot? ›
While CAPTCHAs are common, any that ask you to click “allow” are trying to trick you into subscribing to their malicious notifications. So, don't click allow if you are not a robot!
Does I'm not a robot check your history? ›
CAPTCHA does not directly check the user's web history. However, some CAPTCHA implementations may use browser fingerprints or other data available to the website to determine the user's identity and assess their risk level.
Why would Google ask if I'm a robot? ›
Google interprets that your IP address / device sends multiple search requests at the same time (this creates a suspicious effect on the search engine). With CAPTCHA, Google makes sure that you are not a robot or a computer program that sends multiple requests for search or spam.
What does "I'm not a robot" actually do? ›
This system is actually called CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart). It is a computing test to determine if the user is human. It is sometimes called the reverse Turing test, as the point is to prove humanity rather than artificial intelligence.
Does CAPTCHA actually work? ›
CAPTCHAs and reCAPTCHAs determine if a user is actually a bot. While these tests can help stop malicious bot activity, they are far from foolproof.
Why is Amazon asking me to verify that I am not a robot? ›
Amazon will show you a captcha page (also known as a robot check page) when they have detected you are rapidly requesting pages in an unusual fashion.
Why do I have to verify I am not a robot? ›
The “I'm not a robot” checkbox is a CAPTCHA, or a “Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart.” Essentially any type of test, whether it's selecting the image with stoplights or typing out a word that's blurry, is a CAPTCHA, which is used to stop bots.
How do I get past I'm not a robot? ›
If the message persists:
- Close the web browser completely. ...
- Select the Processes Tab.
- Select End Process on any remaining instances of the browser that are still running, one at a time.
- Once all instances of the browser are cleared from the list, close Task Manager.
- Reopen the browser and try to sign in.
Google goes with this type of authentication to ensure whether its human or not via Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA). Now-a-days, hackers lure to collect the data from server, in bulk. To avoid this miscreants, Google has validated CAPTCHA.
Why do websites have "I am not a robot"? ›
It protects your favourite websites from spam and abuse so that you don't have to compete with robots and abusive scripts to access sites. The main goal of CAPTCHA is to provide a test which is simple and straight forward for any human to answer but which is almost impossible for a computer to solve.
What is the test to prove you are not a robot? ›
A “CAPTCHA” is a turing test to tell human and bots apart. It is easy for humans to solve, but hard for “bots” and other malicious software to figure out. By adding reCAPTCHA to a site, you can block automated software while helping your welcome users to enter with ease.
Why is Google blocking my searches? ›
This can sometimes happen when Google thinks a person or people from that IP address are botting the search engine with queries. Only Google can unblock the IP from accessing their service.
Why does Google keep saying it detects unusual traffic? ›
The 'Unusual Traffic' error on Google occurs due to automated traffic. Completing a CAPTCHA, slowing down search speed, flushing DNS cache, clearing browsing history, running an antivirus scan, or changing web browsers can resolve the issue. Restarting or resetting the router may also help.
How do I stop Google from asking me if I'm a robot? ›
Option 1:
- Close your browser if open.
- Go to the Control Panel.
- Select Internet Options.
- Go to the Advanced tab.
- Select Reset.
- Select the box Delete Personal Settings. There's a disclaimer here about what information will be cleared when doing so, make sure you review this before proceeding.
- Select Reset again.
Mouse Movements: Humans tend to move the mouse in a slightly jerky and non-linear way, whereas bots can move with perfect precision and straight lines. Click Timing: The timing of your clicks, including the slight delay between seeing the box and clicking it, varies naturally in humans but can be too uniform in bots.
Why do websites ask if I'm a robot? ›
The purpose of reCAPTCHA is to protect the software from harmful bots attempting to gain unauthorized access, automate actions, or perform malicious activities. It enhances the software's security by blocking automated requests and ensuring that only genuine human users can access the platform.
