Path: csiph.com!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!reader5.news.weretis.net!news.solani.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Richmond Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: [LINK] Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2025 20:04:47 +0000 Organization: Frantic Message-ID: <861pwl5qu8.fsf@example.com> References: <678ebba8@news.ausics.net> <87y0z45m1l.fsf@example.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Injection-Info: solani.org; logging-data="703675"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@news.solani.org" User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/28.2 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:xj/zje+0GKZYFqASeIQG6yqGDl4= sha1:dWI49NHGp0VPpkyZ8K1gQ6VD9G8= X-User-ID: eJwFwYkBgDAIA8CVypfYcQDN/iN4VwHDMlHIUikurz5EwG0kzBnrYIHG9Xk2ssXT/oI64g8Q8hDX Xref: csiph.com comp.misc:26415 Rich writes: > candycanearter07 wrote: >> Salvador Mirzo wrote at 13:33 this Tuesday >>(GMT): > Sylvia Else writes: >>> >>>> On 21-Jan-25 5:10 am, Computer Nerd Kev wrote: >>>>> Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search by Thom >>>>> Holwerda 2025-01-18 - >>>>> https://www.osnews.com/story/141570/google-begins-requiring-javascript-for-google-search/ >>>>> " Google says it has begun requiring users to turn on >>>>> JavaScript, the widely used programming language to make web >>>>> pages interactive, in order to use Google Search. In an email >>>>> to TechCrunch, a company spokesperson claimed that the change is >>>>> intended to "better protect" Google Search against malicious >>>>> activity, such as bots and spam, and to improve the overall >>>>> Google Search experience for users. >>> >>> [...] >>> >>>> How is this going to '"better protect" Google Search against >>>> malicious activity, such as bots and spam'? >>> >>> I believe the idea is that if the robot doesn't speak Javascript, >>> it's an easy denial by the web server. And making bots speak >>> Javascript is one step up. And with Javascript they can likely >>> monitor things like mouse movement to detect whether the user is a >>> human or a robot. >>> >>> I'm not approving the idea; just sharing what I think they might >>> have in mind when they say Javascript will help them fend off >>> robots. >> >> It would also make it harder to scrape, since I /think/ web scrapers >> don't run JS by default. > > Which just means this will push web scrapers to start running JS. > > They don't run JS (yet) because they have not needed to run JS to do > their scraping. But if JS is required, and they want to scrape bad > enough, they will put in support for running JS. Why can't web scrapers just pretend to be Lynx browsers?