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How do you handle CAPTCHAs?

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How do you handle CAPTCHAs?

Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:08 pm

Dave

I just typed in a query and google said I look like a robot and required I fill out their captcha. I'm surprised rank checker didn't encounter any captcha. Actually I'm thinking it did and instead of marking it as unknown marked the keyphrase as not in the top 100.

What happens when you encounter a captcha? Do you mark the keyword as unknown, or give us a chance to respond to the captcha manually, or is it listed as an unknown?

We really should pass laws that require search engine companies to play fairly.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha for details.

Mon Oct 29, 2007 5:19 am

Dave

Oh come now. You need a separate category for unable to determine ranking due to captca. At the very least. Perhaps allow the user to answer the captca. Or suggest to the user they use TOR. As it stands currently though your stats are far off and you are not answering the question.

Tue Oct 30, 2007 5:32 pm

Dave

I don't want to belabor this point however I do want it addressed. When google forces you to look at a picture instead of returning your query how do you handle it?

Currently it looks like you sweep it under the rug. Instead of saying google is not returning results it looks like you put the phrase in the not listed category. Obviously not the right thing to do.

Handling it by either saying it was not queried or stopping and allowing the user to supply the response would be easy.

I've waited more than a week for a reply. I don't like having paid for this product to be ignored...

Wed Oct 31, 2007 2:41 pm

LinkAssistant

Hi Dave,

and sorry for the delay. For some reason I missed this topic, and thought I already replied to this question. Confused

This is my personal fault, so please accept my appologies for this inconvenience.

Dave wrote:

When google forces you to look at a picture instead of returning your query how do you handle it?

As for Google captchas, the current version of Rank Tracker marks these keywords as "Not In Top 100".

To avoid such problems, please use the Human Emulation feature. Human emulation is an advanced feature of Rank Tracker that improves the safety of rankings checks. If you enable it, Rank Tracker will emulate the way humans check rankings in a search engine, so you will hardly see *captchas*.

Dave wrote:

Instead of saying google is not returning results it looks like you put the phrase in the not listed category. Obviously not the right thing to do.

You're right, thanks for the suggestion! We'll try to handle such situations properly in the future versions of Rank Tracker.

Dave wrote:

Handling it by either saying it was not queried or stopping and allowing the user to supply the response would be easy.

Unfortunately it's not so easy. We have already tried implementing such an option, however, it has its own technical diffculties.

Anyway, as I said before, we'll try to add this feature to our future releases. Now I'd suggest you to use the Human Emulation feature -- it will help you to avoid such problems.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

--
PS: Dave, public forums is not the best place for getting support quickly -- please create a ticket in our Support Helpdesk -- you'll get a reply MUCH faster then. Thank you for understanding.
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Search Engine Optimization Software

Wed Oct 31, 2007 3:35 pm

Dave

Thanks for the reply.

Regardless of technical difficulties the users expect the program to accurately rank the phrases. If google challenges the user it seems the user needs to reply to it. That means you'll have to show googles reply. I've also noticed that once google sends a challenge it does so on every query for a few hours.

I'm sure this is difficult to code but I have every confidence you'll be able to come up with a solution that simply pops up a window with google's challenge and a box where a reply can be supplied.

If you would like a tester of such code let me know. I'd gladly test it...

Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:04 pm

Dave

I just saw this article about the gotcyas, err CAPTCHAs, http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9044779&source=rss_news10 Cute but probably not quite what you are looking for.

Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:01 pm

LinkAssistant

Dave wrote:

I just saw this article about the gotcyas, err CAPTCHAs, http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9044779&source=rss_news10

Yep, cool article, but not for us Very Happy

Well, I can't but agree with you that the program must accurately rank the keywords. We have already added this feature to our TODO list -- will try to add it ASAP.

Thanks again.
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Search Engine Optimization Software

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