CAPTCHA (an acronym for Completely Automated Public Test to distinguish Computers and Humans Apart) is the de-facto standard for websites to stop spam. Every form, where users like me and you can input their details, are littered with the these dirty looking numbers and alphabets, which sometimes are too hard to interpret and often lead to user frustration.

If you are an owner of a non-profit site, then the use of CAPTCHA is fine, but for profit organizations and companies, who are always in a race to bring visitors to the website and persuade them to fill the details, CAPTCHAs are just a pain in the ass. For them, it is very pinching, if the user turns away getting frustrated for not being able to interpret the CAPTCHA letters in first, second or third attempt. The website owner just cannot cannot afford to loose a potential customer just because of those ugly, twisted letters and numbers.

But, the websites have to live with the reality. SPAM is a big menace today. More than 86% of all the emails sent worldwide are SPAM. And it is a fact today, that there is no alternative to CAPTCHA’s success and popularity as on date. They cannot allow the Bots to keep filling their databases with the SPAM email addresses.

Is there a CAPTCHA Alternative to Block SPAM?

But now, a small firm has come up with a CAPTCHA Alternative.

Form Armor has developed a new way for the websites to stop SPAM. They claim to have developed sophisticated algorithms to identify SPAM based upon the content of the data. Every data filled through a website Form is first sent to their servers and based upon its content they categorize it into SPAM or no-SPAM. Only Good data is sent to you and rest of the data is blocked.

Why Form Armor may be Better than CAPTCHAs

CAPTCHAs work on the principle of exclusion. They try to distinguish between a human and a bot assuming that only bots send SPAM. But it is not the case anymore. With some cheap labor available today in many countries, you can easily have people, who can do the job of SPAMMING for dirt cheap prices. I myself have come across one backhat forum, where such services are freely advertised for a price as cheap as $6-7 per 1000 CAPTCHA solved.

In such a situation, the approach of filtering SPAM on the basis of its content really looks promising on its face.

Setup is fast and easy. No javascripts are required to integrate their code into your website and most type of website can easily integrate their codes.

The service looks refreshingly promising. But, still I have a few concerns as a webmaster.

1. Data Security: Is it wise to surrender all your data to a third party. What if it lands in the hands of your competition or any other third party. Although Form Armor assures you on this point and I do not any reason to disbeleive their claim, but I will ask you to exercise your own wisdom.

we built Form Armor with the same type of security measures that are used for online banking and credit card payments. When a form is submitted on your Web site, that data is transmitted to our servers with 128-bit encryption, analyzed in real-time by Form Armor’s technology, and then lickety-split we have a response of “go” or “no go.” We never store your “good” stuff – we’re just the middle man that passes information back to you.

2. Cost: CAPTCHA’s were free. Form Armor costs you between $9 to $29. It is expected also. If you are a commercial website and need a better service then be ready to spend some money. But still, it is an entry barrier for many webmasters.

3. Effectiveness of their Algorithms: When you are relying entirely on the third party for SPAM filtering, the algorithm to filter the SPAM has to be really good. Going by their claims, it seems they have really done a nice job. But unless you yourself use the service and see the results, you cannot be sure. I do not know whether they share the data, which has been identified as SPAM and thus blocked. Unless they share that with you, you will not be able to judge the effectiveness of their algorithms.

Overall, a new refreshing CAPTCHA Alternative to Fight against SPAM. But take your own decisions – no recommendation here.

Visit Form Armor