reCAPTCHA Survey Verification

reCAPTCHA survey verification helps protect public academic research surveys from automated or low-quality bot traffic. Use it when a survey link is public, shared widely, posted on social media, or distributed outside a controlled participant panel.

Verification is especially useful before paid recruitment, quota-limited studies, or high-stakes data collection where automated responses could distort social science research data. It is not a substitute for eligibility screeners, attention checks, duplicate review, or careful export cleaning.

• Bot friction: reduces automated entries before they reach your survey data.
• Public link protection: helps when the same survey URL is broadly accessible.
• Quota protection: keeps automated traffic from consuming limited sample cells before real respondents arrive.
• Quality checks: complements attention checks, screening, quotas, and response review.
• Export signals: can help document whether verification was passed.

1. Step 1: Open Block Builder. Open the survey and choose the early block where verification should occur.

   Step 1: Open Block Builder

2. Step 2: Add reCAPTCHA verification. Place it before expensive experimental tasks, quota-limited paths, or public response collection.

   Step 2: Add reCAPTCHA verification

3. Step 3: Keep screeners nearby. Put eligibility and quality checks early enough that bots or ineligible respondents do not reach the main task.

   Step 3: Keep screeners nearby

4. Step 4: Check Flow. If verification is part of a broader quality path, open Flow and confirm respondents move to the correct next block.

   Step 4: Check Flow

5. Step 5: Preview the public path. Use Preview and a final public-link test before publishing.

   Step 5: Preview the public path

6. Step 6: Review Export after launch. Treat reCAPTCHA as one quality signal alongside timing, attention checks, and response review.

   Step 6: Review Export after launch

reCAPTCHA is a verification step, not a substantive research measure. For better data quality, combine it with clear eligibility criteria, sensible quotas, attention checks, and review of response timing or open-text quality.

If legitimate respondents report access problems, check whether the verification step is blocking a device, browser, or region common in your sample. For a controlled panel where respondents already authenticate elsewhere, weigh the added friction against the risk of bot traffic.

• Publish and Share a Research Survey
• Set Survey Quotas
• Multiple Choice Survey Questions for screeners
• Create Your First Academic Research Survey