Thus spake Aplin, Justin M (jmap...@ufl.edu): > On 8/25/2010 8:52 PM, Mike Perry wrote: > >Thus spake Matthew (pump...@cotse.net): > > > > > >> On numerous occasions when using Google with Tor (yes, I know there are > >>other options like Scroogle) it claims I might be sending automated > >>queries > >>and gives me a CAPTCHA. Sometimes this allows me to search; other times I > >>am caught in a loop and am constantly send back to the CAPTCHA screen. > >> > >This has been a known problem with Google for ages. > > > (snip) > > Really? I've never had this problem until recently. For about 2 years > now every Google CAPTCHA I've run into has been uneventful and let me > through after the first try, only in the past month or so have I been > getting caught in the "CAPTCHA loop".
Various horrible behaviors have come and go with this captcha system over the past 3 years or so. Sometimes you just get a 403 with no captcha, sometimes you have to solve a captcha, sometimes 2 captchas, sometimes infinite captchas, and sometimes it forgets your query and you have to start the whole process over again from a Google landing page. My point is that the whole system is problematic on a number of levels. I also personally believe that there are better ways of rate limiting and screening queries from high-user count IPs that do not involve cookies or captchas. I also question Google's threat model on this feature. Sure, they want to stop people from programmatically re-selling Google results without an API key in general, but there is A) no way people will be reselling Tor-level latency results, B) no way they can really expect determined competitors not to do competitive analysis of results using private IP ranges large enough to avoid DoS detection, C) no way that the total computational cost of the queries coming from Tor can justify denying so many users easy access to their site. This is why I'd love a chance to meet with the DoS team to discuss some of these points. However, I get the strong impression it is a very secretive group that is especially wary of discussing their methods, reasoning, or analysis and with anyone else, and is generally given a blank check to enact policy without proper in-depth cost/benefit analsysis because its actions are "for security". -- Mike Perry Mad Computer Scientist fscked.org evil labs
pgpGvcbwzdUPv.pgp
Description: PGP signature