If you search the internet frequently for different things like I do, chances are you've gotten the pop-up I've shown here more than few times. In fact, I'll bet it's happening more and more and more to you. I can't even search a single thing without this thing getting shoved into my face. It's gone from annoying to irritating to downright infuriating. Even as I'm writing this petition I'm under tremendous self-restraint to express my own anger and frustration honestly without ranting or swearing. Because even this was started in the heat of the moment of getting this pop-up while trying to do a simple search.

To be clear, I know everyone's experience is different, but please understand that I'm speaking from my own, and I know I'm not the only person being increasingly pestered by this nonsesnse. I'm using Firefox as my browser and Google as my search engine. Both of these worked fine for me until this nuisance started coming up. I've also gotten used to how they work (when I don't get blasted by things like this) and I don't want to go through the hassle of re-learning everything in another application. This, and the fact that other browsers and search engines do the same thing is why I don't think merely switching is the solution.

These pop-ups are called CAPTCHA, which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. Its supposed "purpose" is a way of verifying that a visitor to a site is a human user and not an automated program. They appear randomly upon entering a search before a single result is seen. It doesn't even matter what you're searching. It could be important information for your job or a project, a gaming walkthrough, or just funny cat videos. But type in your search, hit Enter and bam! There it is blocking you from what you want or need.

If you're like me you've probably clicked "refresh" or restarted your browser to get rid of it. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it's still there, forcing you to go through its absurd motions. It doesn't even stop once you've caved in and checked the "I'm not a robot" box. You're then given a puzzle where you must select items from a picture. For example, you're shown a street corner and told "Pick all the squares with cars." You do so. But you fail because you missed a single square with barely a piece of what they want in it. Then you're given a different version of the same puzzle. All you want is to get to what you searched for and this is wasting time you might not have in getting to it.

While I know that there is need for security, forcing people to check a box and solve an idiotic puzzle is not likely to help with anything. In fact, I think it's worth pointing out that these things seem to be made and given by the very things they supposedly check for: bots. What, I'm forced to ask, can we do? Hit refresh? Restart the browser? I've already mentioned that those rarely work. Clear the casche? I've done that and you probably have too. Turn off or remove add-ons (such as ad-blockers)? Even if it works you end up losing the benefits you got those add-ons for in the first place. Reset or reconfigure your entire internet connection without changing settings or losing bookmarked sites in ways only a programmer knows how to do? Yes I got THAT desperate. And here I am, the day after attempting that, angrily starting a petition against this garbage.

When people search the internet, they want what they search for, not a checkbox and a forced puzzle to "verify" who or what they are. What's more, even though computers are used almost everywhere for almost everything, not everyone knows their inner workings. I personally know people ranging from actual programmers to people who can barely work a TV remote. So imagine the frustration from the latter upon encountering these ridiculous pop-ups and not knowing what's going on. I'm pretty computer-savvy myself but I'm not a programmer, and this still enrages me more every time it disrupts my ability to do anything online.

I think it's worth mentioning that during the time I wrote this War and Peace-length summary of my misery with CAPTCHA pop-ups, I could have been doing something, anything that I actually enjoy. So even after finally getting past it just long enough to say "Change.org here I come," my time is still wasted because I shouldn't have to make this petition. That's why I wrote this long description of problems; so everyone can understand why I am. Because I know I'm not the only one fed up with this issue.

Security is needed, but annoyances like this are not the answer. Especially when the first two letters of it's acronym name explain how it's done. CAPTCHA pop-ups and other similar things must be permanently banned from the internet so that everyday people like you and me can peacefully browse for what we want and need uninterrupted. I sincerely ask anyone and everyone who gets far enough past these irritants to see this petition, please sign it. And tell others about it to raise awareness. The internet has enough problems without blocking us from even using it being one of them.