Google Is Getting Rid Of reCAPTCHA, Replacing It 'Invisible reCAPTCHA'

No more reCAPTCHA

CAPTCHA is an acronym for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. It has been good in identifying humans from bots, but its challenges can sometime be so difficult for humans that they became annoying.

Back in 2014. Google announced reCAPTCHA which was a newer method that replaced CAPTCHA's challenges that ask users to type in characters they see in scrambled images, to puzzles.

Later, Google launched No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA which is a simple checkbox that says "I'm not a robot." Using algorithms, it analyzes various aspect of behavior to determine whether the user is a human or a bot.

On March 9th, 2017, Google announced a newer method it calls "advanced risk analysis engine". It's essentially an 'invisible reCAPTCHA' that uses AI that works hidden in the background, figuring out if the user is really a human or not.

The invisible reCAPTCHA can be assigned to existing button on websites, and won't at all show unless to the "most suspicious traffic."It can be invoked via a JavaScript API call and developers can alter the reCAPTCHA behavior to some instances.

Invisible reCAPTCHA

Pretty much everyone on the web has seen (and hate) CAPTCHA-protected forms. From scrambled text to often-annoying checkboxes to surveys, many websites are using those spam protection to ensure than only breathing humans can access their resources.

To some degree, yes, they are essential to protect certain parts of a website from potentially malicious activities. But to some others, those protection methods can be annoying and increasingly difficult to younger or older people.

This is where Google puts an end to CAPTCHA, at least at the foreground.

The invisible reCAPTCHA uses a combination of machine learning and advanced risk analysis that adapts to new and emerging threats. With it, most users won't have to do or see anything, not even the "I'm not a robot" checkbox, as the protection method works hidden in the background.

Unless it sees potential suspicious activity, the user will then be presented with the traditional CAPTCHA challenges.

If the system works as intended as Google says it does, users of the web may experience much more convenient in doing their online activities, such as buying tickets, submitting forms, signing up for online services to online banking and many others.