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"Captcha" - Do you think it affects website marketing?

profitizerprofitizer subscriber Posts: 16 Bronze Level Member
edited July 2009 in Marketing
Hello.To captcha or not to captcha?  That is the question...
Do you believe captcha affects your ability to take full advantage of the marketing of your website? 
By that I mean, do you think after all of your hard work to market and successfully drive traffic to your website, when visitors arrive to then be scared away because you chose to use captcha on your forms including your `Contact Us` form?
Is having captcha worth the loss of those who leave your website because of it, especially when it is hard to read?
How do you think you look in the eyes of the American Disabilities Act (ADA) or does it really matter to the audience you choose to cater to?
Do you believe it is a double-edge sword or not?
Have you ever experienced filling out a form and either you took too long or left and came back to finish only to have the form rejected because the captcha time expired and it erased your input and you had to start all over again?
From what I`ve read over the years, this is still a highly-controversial / highly-charged subject - one that may not go away anytime soon...What`s your opinion?

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    MattTurpinMattTurpin subscriber Posts: 22
    Captcha is a mixed blessing. I run forums. Two word Captcha is a godsend at the moment for my free time. I don`t have to ban bots. However, it never ceases to irritate me when I come across it on other people`s websites. Still, I understand what webmasters go through, and I don`t begrudge anyone a sale solely because they`re trying to fight bots.
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    DavidJacksonDavidJackson subscriber Posts: 143 Silver Level Member
    I tested forms on my various sites with and without CAPTCHA. And while I experienced a significant decrease in spam with CAPTCHA, I DID NOT experience a significant decrease in sales or opt-ins.
     
    If you are uncertain about whether or not to use CAPTCHA, I suggest you do your own testing.
     
    David Jackson
    DavidJackson7/13/2009 9:35 AM
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