“I am not a robot,” said the sneaker bot as it checked the CAPTCHA box. Then proceeded to add those Jordans to the cart and check them out, oh-so smoothly! So, aside from all this romance and dreaminess, what is CAPTCHA? And why do we have to look for that darn fire hydrant every time we go to certain sites?
Today we’re gonna answer this question and see how vital solving CAPTCHAS is to sneaker botting. And if you’re very new to botting, you can start by reading about bots and the different types too!
What Is CAPTCHA?
Ever wondered what the actual word means? Well, brace yourself, because it’s a long a$$ phrase. CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. So the meaning is literally there between the letters. But how does CAPTCHA tell computers and humans apart? Well, with modern technology, there are different tests to do that.
You could have very pixelated images of trucks, traffic lights, and crossroads. And an older version of CAPTCHA was the very annoying text that you should type. But man, how do you differentiate between man and machine if even I can’t tell the difference between letters? So anyway, enough with the ranting, and let’s get back to business. Although these tests should be easy for humans, even the best of us could fail miserably at passing them. After all, it’s human to be wrong, right?
But Why Do Websites Use CAPTCHA?
So today, our case study is gonna be about a sneaker website, a sneaker bot, and your average sneakerhead. Although cybersecurity has come a really long way, CAPTCHA still feels like the simplest option to find bots. So it’s one type of bot protection. However, just as CAPTCHA is evolving, sneaker bots are also catching up fast. And most, if not all bots now auto-solve CAPTCHAs.
On the other hand, CAPTCHA kinda helps AI evolve by monitoring human answers and judgment. So sometimes, there are no right and wrong answers. The only metric there is humans’ responses. So if 85% of people chose the pole with the traffic light, it’s gonna count as the right answer! That makes zero sense, but who are we to judge?
CAPTCHA vs ReCAPTCHA
Although you might think these are the same things, they’re not. While CAPTCHA might ask you to write a word, find the traffic lights, etc… ReCAPTCHA is usually more sophisticated. To pass it, you’re gonna have to decipher a text that comes from street signs, textbooks, and the like. You could also get the checkbox or visual text, who knows?
What Is CAPTCHA on Sneaker Sites?
Sneaker sites like Shopify, Footsites, and others usually go for CAPTCHA to detect bots. However, sneaker bots are getting smarter, faster, stronger – sorry Kanye! As we already mentioned, most bots can solve CAPTCHAs automatically now. However, if your bot doesn’t have it, there are always CAPTCHA-solving APIs out there!
Now That You Know All This…
Now you have your answer if you didn’t know what is CAPTCHA. But your bot solving them won’t ensure a definite W for you. A sneaker bot needs an excellent setup to have the highest chance of success. So what will you need? First, the right sneaker proxies to multiply them chances. Second, an excellent sneaker server to make sure that a lagging WIFI connection doesn’t kill your shot! You can also check out some additional things you can do here! Godspeed 🔥
