Quote:
Originally Posted by INever
would my low tech solution work...?
|
It'll stop the dumb bots, not the smart ones.
Obfuscating the email as text ("gfy at gmail.com") will dodge basic scrapers that just look for mailto: links or regex patterns. That's probably 80% of the automated garbage.
But any modern bot or AI can parse "gfy at gmail.com" as an email address without breaking a sweat. And "favorite color" is trivial - bot just says "blue" and you'd never know the difference.
If you want to stick with low-tech, make the question something only a human in your niche would know.
Like "What site did [industry person] start on?" or "What's the name of the third gallery on the tour page?" - something that requires actually looking at your content.
Or just use a simple CAPTCHA on a form.
Trying to outsmart bots with clever tricks is a losing game - they've seen it all.