Comments on: Use Some Ingenuity and Avoid Captcha http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/ new media strategies and other marketing gems Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:07:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Colin http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/comment-page-1/#comment-123742 Colin Tue, 20 May 2008 15:55:40 +0000 http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/#comment-123742 Yeah, I agree that captchas are a little irritating, and I'm sorry to realize that they're a hurdle for disabled users, but I recently just <a href="http://colindullaghan.com/blog/?p=585" rel="nofollow">raved</a> about how much I appreciate the dual nature of the reCaptcha system, in that it blocks spam (though not 100% effectively, as you point out) while helping to decipher books, and I'm still a fan. No disputing their detrimental effect on user experience, but you have to admit that using minimal effort from each member of a vast pool of humans to do what even a very brainy computer cannot (read mangled text that defies Optical Character Recognition) is a pretty elegant solution. Though generally speaking, yes, I'm all for using creativity instead of code when possible. Yeah, I agree that captchas are a little irritating, and I’m sorry to realize that they’re a hurdle for disabled users, but I recently just
raved about how much I appreciate the dual nature of the reCaptcha system, in that it blocks spam (though not 100% effectively, as you point out) while helping to decipher books, and I’m still a fan.

No disputing their detrimental effect on user experience, but you have to admit that using minimal effort from each member of a vast pool of humans to do what even a very brainy computer cannot (read mangled text that defies Optical Character Recognition) is a pretty elegant solution.

Though generally speaking, yes, I’m all for using creativity instead of code when possible.

]]> By: peter http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/comment-page-1/#comment-55987 peter Wed, 05 Sep 2007 02:33:20 +0000 http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/#comment-55987 It does not tell you that you have it "right" it simply tells you that you have three images selected. It does not tell you that you have it “right” it simply tells you that you have three images selected. ]]> By: samson http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/comment-page-1/#comment-51732 samson Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:34:54 +0000 http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/#comment-51732 How is that not a CAPTCHA? True, its not the usual mangled letters in an artificially grainy image, but it is something trying to tell computer and human apart. How is that not a CAPTCHA?

True, its not the usual mangled letters in an artificially grainy image, but it is something trying to tell computer and human apart.

]]> By: Noah http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/comment-page-1/#comment-51659 Noah Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:18:42 +0000 http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/#comment-51659 What is with the negative comments about this being an "attention getting" post? Since when was it a bad thing to add your voice to the discussion. Heck, with 17 comments already, it is obviously a topic people are interested in. Besides, if this is a topic that gets people's attention, why the heck would you _not_ want to blog about it? What is with the negative comments about this being an “attention getting” post? Since when was it a bad thing to add your voice to the discussion. Heck, with 17 comments already, it is obviously a topic people are interested in.

Besides, if this is a topic that gets people’s attention, why the heck would you _not_ want to blog about it?

]]> By: Nicolas Sanguinetti http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/comment-page-1/#comment-51658 Nicolas Sanguinetti Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:13:59 +0000 http://marketingtechblog.com/2007/07/14/avoid-captcha/#comment-51658 One neat solution I encountered somewhere was a checkbox labelled "I'm a spammer", that came unchecked by default. Granted, it's more useful in the context of preventing automated signups than on comments (as blog comments usually don't have checkboxes that need checking). Of course in the end it's just a matter of time before AIs break that. But I don't think there's a perfect solution than robots will never break, so this is good enough and doesn't disrupt user experience at all (unless, of course, you consider yourself a spammer...) One neat solution I encountered somewhere was a checkbox labelled “I’m a spammer”, that came unchecked by default. Granted, it’s more useful in the context of preventing automated signups than on comments (as blog comments usually don’t have checkboxes that need checking).

Of course in the end it’s just a matter of time before AIs break that. But I don’t think there’s a perfect solution than robots will never break, so this is good enough and doesn’t disrupt user experience at all (unless, of course, you consider yourself a spammer…)

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