E-commerce Security 2021: Alternative of Google reCaptcha

hCaptcha…. ummmmm….. sounds different right? Some might have heard about it but do not know what it is. In simple terms, hCaptcha is an E-commerce security software for bot and spam detection.

Now, you will be thinking you already have reCaptchas for bots and spammers. Well, in this article I will clear you out all about What is hCaptcha? How does it work? Is it safe? Is it better than reCaptcha?

E-commerce security is the major concern for online business owners. Spam and bots affect E-commerce websites adversely. They misuse your site data and hence, you lose the trust of your customers. E-commerce merchants are always in search of protecting their websites from these spammers.

Among the many options available to protect your website from spam attacks, Captchas are one of them. Captchas help you to prevent spams and bots from entering your online store. Completely Automated Public Turing-test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) keeps spams and bots away from the website. CAPTCHA recognizes humans and stops spam bots from entering the website.

What is Google reCaptcha?

Initially, people used distorted images with alphabets and numbers on the registration form, checkout page, and login page to prevent spammers from entering the website. With the advancement in technology, spammers and bots got smarter and this technique would no longer prevent them.

Image Source: Nabtron

Later on, with “identify a thing”, the user has to solve the challenge, where it provides a grid of nine pictures and the user has to select appropriate images in order to move ahead.

Image source: Terence Eden

Then after Google bought the reCaptcha and offered a high level of security simplifying the process for users. The user just needs to tick the checkbox “I’m not a robot” without brainstorming to solve the questions. People liked it as the process became faster for them. Plus, it provided a greater level of security.

Image source: Google Developers

Google provides reCaptcha service for free in exchange for user data. Every time a user solves a puzzle, Google gets information about the user’s behavior, what site is being visited.

The latest version of Google reCaptcha is Invisible reCaptcha. With invisible reCaptcha, “I’m not a robot”, the dialog box was even removed and the user was not prompted with any question to solve or perform any task. It tracks user behavior without any user interaction.

What is hCaptcha?

hCaptcha is a complete alternative to Google reCaptcha, owned by Intuition Machines. It is basically the same as reCaptcha with some major benefits. hCaptcha is a blocking tool for bots and spammers to enter your E-commerce websites. hCaptcha offers a high level of security and protects websites from spam and bots. It accurately identifies what is safe and what is a risk for the website. It provides challenges that are difficult for bots to solve but easy for humans.

Image Source: MageComp

Benefits of hCaptcha

Along with, security hCaptcha offers other benefits for E-commerce websites. Let us figure out what hCaptcha has to offer

• hCaptcha provides security from spam and bots to enter the website.
• It provides privacy to the user’s personal information.
• It allows earning money when a user solves a puzzle. The money is received in the virtual form known as Human Tokens which can be used for image classification or given as charity.
• Users of your site will be able to see the charity work you are doing, increasing your site’s reputation. 
• hCaptcha provides easy tasks to humans consuming less time.
• They classify the images and sell back the image classification service to others without binding the personal information of the website visitors.

Is hCaptcha safe?

With hCaptcha, you need not worry about spam, bots, or malicious factors affecting your website. Your website visitors get more privacy if hCaptcha is running on your site. The service providers get an image classification service. You get an incentive with which you can buy services or donate to charities like Wikimedia Foundation. 

Moving from reCaptcha to hCaptcha is like a walk in the park. You simply need to perform 3 simple steps which will cost you less than even 30 minutes. Thus, migrating from reCaptcha to hCaptcha is a stress-free easy-peasy task. 

hCaptcha vs reCaptcha

reCaptcha is being used by millions of people around the world. But the major problem with reCaptcha is, it breaches privacy policies. This problem is solved with hCaptcha. The user’s personal information is safe with hCaptcha. Apart from security, hCaptcha benefits the user as well as the website owners. hCaptcha is not managed by an ad service, hence there is no violation of user information.

Is hCaptcha better than reCaptcha?

Google is becoming less effective in figuring out bots and spam. For this reason, it is better to find an alternative for it. hCaptcha is the new arrival in the spam-preventing area. hCaptcha classifies the images without selling the personal information of the users. hCaptcha provides a small incentive for image classification which the owners can donate as charity. Looking at the positive sides of hCaptcha, yes it is better than reCaptcha.

Final Words:

In a dilemma whether to switch to hCaptcha or not? I must say it’s a pretty good idea to switch to hCaptcha for preventing bots and spam. Integrate Magento 2 hCaptcha Extension and safeguard your store from bots and spammers by increasing the customer experience of the store.

Flipping from reCaptcha to hCaptcha is a matter of minutes by keeping the personal information of the users secure. hCaptcha offers straightforward, effortless, and authentic bot detection making it easy for humans.

Author Bio: Zoya Scoot is a Hubspot Certified Inbound Marketing Specialist and Content Marketer at MageComp. With her exceptional research work on Magento, she has helpes MageComp to grow in many ways. Some of her articles are featured on Google SERPs, which drives lots of visitors.