Most Internet users have seen it before: Captcha, a few distorted words that are supposed to be typed back in plaintext so a Google account can be set up. It's a test designed to flag spammers, but many say the technology has been flawed for a long time.
But now, Google is unveiling a new system called No-Captcha that has already been rolled out by Wordpress and Snapchat, The Verge reported on Wednesday.
Instead of being prompted to retype text, the new system looks into user's behavior and automatically selects anyone who is easily identifiable as warm-blooded. Most users will be able to just click the "I'm not a robot" box and pass the test. Anyone flagged as suspicious will be given a more difficult test.
"For most users, this dramatically simplifies the experience," Vinay Shet, the product manager for Google's Captcha team, told Wired. "They basically get a free pass. You can solve the catptcha without having to solve it."
Sometimes the test will be the same text-recognition protocol, but other times it will be different. One idea that Google is experimenting with is a test that would ask you to pick similar photos out of an array.
Engineers for the search engine giant said the pre-screening would look at things like time spent on a page and IP addresses, but wouldn't be much more specific, saying spammers would change their tactics in response.
The old Captcha technology will remain for a while as many sites upgrade their pages, but the hope is that there will be less spam going forward.
