Anyone else annoyed by online ordering sites that...

[brush]

Last edited Wed May 14, 2025, 09:12 PM - Edit history (1)

that put yo through a quiz consisting of a grid of photos, usually or crosswalks, stairs, motorcycles or buses, where you have to guess by clickj g which vague, fuzzy photos have even a small piece of those elements in them.

If you miss, they tell you you failed and have to start over before they'll fill your order.

So damn annoying when you're trying to pay them money.

[rsdsharp]

1. Yes, it's a pain in the ass.

[rich7862]

2. I went on line to find that the prices have already gone up

almost double what they were 3 months ago.

[hlthe2b]

3. Especially when a square has the tiniest bit of a motorcycle, crosswalk, bus, or whatever...

I have still yet to figure out if it is better to be discerning and include any box that COULD apply or not..

Yes, it is irritating.

[brush]

5. So frustrating. I don't get why merchants think it's a good idea.

[tanyev]

4. Oh yes.

Crosswalks or stoplights and some of the pictures have city streets in the background. I mean, maybe….

[Hekate]

6. Meh. I blow up my screen on the first pass so I can see details better, and haven't been bothered by...

…. having to repeat the exercise from time to time.

[elocs]

7. The pictures are so tiny that I have trouble seeing them all. It takes me more than 1 try. n/t

[CloudWatcher]

12. Zoom zoom

Most computers have a zoom ability where you can magnify all or part of the screen. It's well worth the trouble to learn how to do it .. I zoom in on things a lot!

I'd include directions here, but it's OS specific. Just google for how to zoom your screen

[mucholderthandirt]

19. I zoom in, still can't really see the images. It's very low-rez stuff, you can't often see anything at all.

[ShazzieB]

27. Me, too.

It's very unfair to people with less than perfect vision!

Fortunately, I don't run unto this nearly as often as I used to. I usually get a screen that tells me "click this box to show you are a human." That I can handle just fine!

[senseandsensibility]

8. I've never had that when I'm trying to buy something

but I have experienced it. Trying to remember what the site was or why I was trying to log on. But I know it wasn't a shopping site.

[sl8]

9. It's not always just to make sure you're human, but also to collect your data.

This is a few years old, I wouldn't be surprised if it's worse now.

https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2022/08/18/security-should-not-come-at-the-expense-of-user-privacy/

Security Should Not Come At The Expense Of User Privacy

Forbes Technology Council
By Benjamin Fabre, Forbes Councils Member.
for Forbes Technology Council
Aug 18, 2022, 08:30am EDT

[...]

The Problem With “CAPTCHA” -ing Data

CAPTCHA was created as a way to tell bots and humans apart, originally by displaying warped text that a machine could not read. As CAPTCHAs became more popular, the tasks to prove a user wasn’t a bot became very different, most recently asking users to click all tiles in an image containing a certain object (like a car). In addition to being disruptive (and annoying at the time), CAPTCHAs can have a dark side.

Google’s reCAPTCHA sends hardware and software information, including device and application data, from your computer, which gives Google a view into user data. Additionally, if you’re signed into your Google account, research indicates Google may be able to gather data about every single webpage you visit that uses reCAPTCHA v3, which is usually only indicated by a small logo hidden in the corner. Over the years, Google’s view into user traffic has grown larger as more websites have adopted reCAPTCHA.

ReCAPTCHA, particularly the newest “invisible” version, is a double-edged sword. It was meant to provide an extra line of defense and ensure a smooth user experience—but the extra security may come with a serious compromise—user privacy. In early 2020, privacy concerns led Cloudflare—a leading internet infrastructure company—to drop reCAPTCHA in favor of another tool that did not collect as much user data.

[...]

[Alice Kramden]

16. This info should be widely spread

I didn't know this - please consider making it an OP

[Cuthbert Allgood]

24. The sites you visit get that information relatively easily.

If you want that information secret, then stay off the internet. I'm pretty sure DU knows I'm on a Mac and where I'm at because they get my IP address (unless my VPN is on which I haven't checked today because I'm not doing much of anything).

[a kennedy]

10. ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

🤬 🤬 🤬

[Skittles]

11. I fail them quite often

my peepers.....not so good

[EarthFirst]

13. Sure but...

…the real frustration (once of course after you’ve navigated the process you mention) lies where once you receive the product; the stickers that they plaster the item with are impossible to remove in once piece and leave behind a papered; adhesive residue.

IYKYK…

[canetoad]

14. I've never seen this

At an online retailer, but it's used in other places and drives me mad. Trying to make sense out of their blurred, murky pictures - I'd never buy from any seller that inflicted this crap on me.

[Nictuku]

15. BEWARE! Now there are Fake Captcha popups on websites

Just Close (X) them out. Unless you are logging into an account that normally requires a captcha. If one comes up when you are just web browsing, be suspect. I had one come up on RawStory the other day, but fortunately I had just read about this new scam.

I think the fake ones are trying to get you to enter in your login info, or personal info.

edit to add articles about this new scam:

https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/03/fake-captcha-websites-hijack-your-clipboard-to-install-information-stealers

https://blackpointcyber.com/blog/the-rise-of-fake-captcha-attacks/

[AllaN01Bear]

17. the one i hate is the ones with letters and numbers .

on the site they say punctuation dosent mmatter . o yes it does, pain in the caboose.

[mucholderthandirt]

18. I hate that shit. I can't see that great, and looking at those low rez pics makes me crazy.

Amazon has taken to asking me to do a puzzle, pick the one picture that has two identical things. Except, none of them have two IDENTICAL things, one has something that is kind of like another.

My credit union has taken to logging me out and making me answer my security questions. Of course, they've twice let someone charge shit to my account, which even when they quickly fix it pisses me off. I'm on a fixed income, I never travel, I still drive. I'm not buying clothes online, or using Lyft, or spending money in some other idiot state. FFS, get a clue!

[slightlv]

26. Why does it seem like new "security" measures

always mean greater time and more frustration for us, but never seems to slow down those taking advantage of us?! I share your disdain... I've had a site or two that asked me for my security questions at login. My biggest issue with that is, where was my mind when I answered these questions?! Depending on how I feel at the moment, Kansas is my favorite band... or it could be Moody Blues if I'm in a totally different mood. I HATE those relativistic, general questions.

I love to checkout recipe sites online. But it seems like every single one of them now have a popup to register with them or accept spam from them. And, depending on how long you're on the site, it'll pop up again on you. And these think they are really cute. Where you usually have the "X" to click out of them in the upper right or left part of the graphic, seems the major part of the graphic is the pure white background. Which means you can't see the X until you go hunting all over the page for it. I've taken to just closing down those sites, figuring there's not much I wanted to see on there, anyway!

Used to be your ad blockers and such would kill the popups, too... but somehow, these escape. Makes me so frustrated!

[benfranklin1776]

31. Exactly!

Well put and I share your aggravation for the same reasons it needlessly interferes with what used to be a pleasant experience 🤬

[benfranklin1776]

32. Amen!!

Well put as the ordeal is jaw clenchingly maddening and stupid-and it’s not for our benefit since, as you say, they devote more time seemingly to throwing up obstacles to we the customer than hardening their systems against genuine cyber criminals.

[markodochartaigh]

20. A few years ago

I did tasks on Amazon MTurk and one of the types of tasks was to train AI on these captchas. Generally I could make about $5/hr, which is good for that type of work. At least I paid for my food and electricity that way.

[usonian]

21. Two things are wrong: Fakes and the real thing. Now, isn't that precious?

Cybersecurity Alert: Users Deceived By Fake Google CAPTCHA Pages
https://www.ghacks.net/2025/01/24/cybersecurity-alert-users-deceived-by-fake-google-captcha-pages/

Google's reCAPTCHA is not only useless, it's also basically spyware
reCAPTCHA v3's checkbox test doesn't stop bots and tracks user data
https://www.techspot.com/news/106717-google-recaptcha-not-only-useless-also-basically-spyware.html

[benfranklin1776]

30. Interesting!

Thanks for the good find! Although not surprising sadly that they are both useless and spyware 🤬

[paulkienitz]

22. And what you're actually doing is...

helping train an AI to drive a car.

[Iggo]

23. You're training AI.

Anyway, the moment you hesitate in the slightest, the program “knows” you’re a human. So the point must be something other than verifying you’re human.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

25. That's how they know you are human.

It doesn't matter if you click the square that has a pixel of the thing they are asking for. It's the way you click.

[Wounded Bear]

28. Also annoying as hell, though a bit hilarious...

After you finally do get through and order something, or maybe you just searched for it, you get spammed with ads for the exact same thing for weeks.

[benfranklin1776]

29. I'm with you✊🏼

Many times the images are indecipherable and have tiny fragments that bleed over from one frame to another causing an inevitable hesitation in deciding does that frame “show” a motorcycle or crosswalk when there’s only a tiny bit of the whole object present therein. It needlessly over complicates what should be a simple transaction, and wastes our precious time. But then much of online shopping is now riddled with these time wasting black holes, like repeated suggestions for other products to add to your order when you’re just trying to pay and be done with what you’ve already ordered. Enough!

[brush]

33. Well said. Those flash ads for additions to your order are just as annoying.

[benfranklin1776]

34. Yes and they waste our time

Which the designers and merchants seem to care not one bit about, which is stupid as it’s a self defeating “strategy” since it results in pissed off customers LESS likely to buy from the sellers who employ such in your face strong arm tactics. 😡