Google's ReCAPTCHA: An Easier Way to Prove You're Not A Robot

Forget having to type those barely legible letters and numbers.

ByABC News
December 3, 2014, 3:48 PM
Google's new reCAPTCHA service means users no longer have to type those nearly indiscernible letters and numbers.
Google's new reCAPTCHA service means users no longer have to type those nearly indiscernible letters and numbers.
Google

— -- There's now an easier way to prove to Google that you're not a robot.

Anyone who has ever spent several attempts trying to type those barely legible strings of letters and numbers into a CAPTCHA to prove their status as their status as a living, breathing human knows how maddening it can be,

Google announced today it is rolling out a simple one click solution for websites that use its "No CAPTCHA" service to weed out spam from bots.

With the new experience, users will be able to simply check a box that reads: "I'm not a robot."

If the risk analysis back end still needs more convincing, the user may be redirected to a traditional CAPTCHA.

Otherwise, that's it. Pretty simple.

PHOTO: An example of a regular CAPTCHA from Google's blog.
An example of a regular CAPTCHA from Google's blog.

While CAPTCHAs were implemented to keep abusive agents out of websites, Google said their research shows that today's AI technology can get past CAPTCHAs with 99.8 percent accuracy, rendering them no longer dependable for anything other than driving humans crazy.

Google said the CAPCTHA experience will also be getting easier for mobile users, who will have the option to pick out images from a group that match a master photo. (Example: Here's a cat. Tap all the photos below that are cats.)

It will be up to websites to use the new API. Google said some large websites, including Snapchat and Wordpress, have already switched over and found success with the new "No CAPTCHA" system, getting users to the sites even faster.