You can't use ReCaptcha (or any captcha) for ads. Captchas work because they pre...

jefftk · on March 5, 2019

> You can't use ReCaptcha (or any captcha) for ads. Captchas work because they prevent access to content users want until they solve the captcha.

If you've used ReCaptcha in the past few years [1] you might have noticed it often doesn't ask you to solve a captcha. The parent is describing using a similar approach of detecting bots to identify ad impressions that shouldn't be counted (spam).

[1] https://security.googleblog.com/2014/12/are-you-robot-introd...

(Disclosure: I work at Google in ads, though not in spam.)

tobyhinloopen · on March 6, 2019

There is a hidden "I'm not a robot" "captcha". You might use that to help detect whether the impression/view/click was legit.

https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/docs/invisible

You can programmatically invoke the challenge from the ad's javascript.

bostik · on March 5, 2019

If you follow that train of thought to its logical (if perverse) conclusion, we can soon expect ads as the subject matter of captcha.

Instead of selecting three pictures that have a given "thing" in them, we'll be picking the ones showing a given brand among otherwise generic signs.

BenjiWiebe · on March 5, 2019

I've seen some websites that do that, ie watch a short ad and then type in the brand name from the ad.

bostik · on March 5, 2019

So life imitates art - again. Too bad the artist is a dystopian dadaist.