Bloomberg - Are you a robot? (2024)

FAQs

How does CAPTCHA know I'm not a robot? ›

The latest versions of reCAPTCHA are able to take a holistic look at a user's behavior and history of interacting with content on the Internet. Most of the time, the program can decide based on those factors whether or not the user is a bot, without providing the user with a challenge to complete.

This message is usually due to a temporary network issue and can be resolved by refreshing your browser. It also might be caused due to accessing the offering through a virtual network.

A CAPTCHA test is made up of two simple parts: a randomly generated sequence of letters and/or numbers that appear as a distorted image, and a text box. To pass a the test and prove your human identity, simply type the characters you see in the image into the text box.

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.

As the BBC's QI revealed, ticking the little box is actually letting the site check things like your internet browsing history to determine whether you're a real person or not. "Ticking the box is not the point. It's how you behaved before you ticked the box that is analysed," Sandi Toksvig explained to the panel.

Turns out the answer is part of a bigger story about being human. The box test isn't really about the box! It's actually tracking other things about your behavior, like how you move your mouse as you go to check the box.

Several factors can contribute to reCAPTCHA identifying you as a potential or suspected robot: Suspicious Behavior: If your interactions on the platform resemble automated or bot-like patterns, such as rapid form submissions or repeated login attempts, the system may flag them as suspicious.

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.

The best way to prove that you are not a robot is by completing a CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart). CAPTCHAs are designed to test for specific abilities that are uniquely human, such as recognizing distorted text or images, or solving simple puzzles.

Many websites have CAPTCHA tests that are triggered when users enter certain access points on the site. But sometimes user behavior itself can trigger a CAPTCHA test, especially if it resembles that of a robot. A CAPTCHA test can be triggered if: A user's IP address has been identified as a bot.