# Why does Google think I'm a robot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851 "2007-12-13T14:12:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/1 "2007-12-13T14:12:46Z")
Recently, when trying to access Google, I keep running up against [this error page](http://www.google.com/sorry/?continue=http://www.google.com/): > [@](#): > > We’re sorry… > … but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can’t process your request right now. > > We’ll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software. > > We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we’ll see you again on Google. I’m on a work PC, and have to assume that I’m not infected, and in any case, I went to Google by typing “google” in the address bar and hitting CTRL+Enter, same as always. How is that a “query … similar to automated requests from a computer virus”? Since when did viruses attack Google by entering the URL in a browser address bar? What’s going on here? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/2 "2007-12-13T14:15:24Z")
See, this is what happens when you fail a Turing Test. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/3 "2007-12-13T14:18:18Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] See, this is what happens when you fail a Turing Test. [/QUOTE] Well that’s just stupid. I’ve never tured in my life. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/4 "2007-12-13T14:31:37Z")
Are you using any proxies? I used to get those messages a lot when I was using Tor. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/5 "2007-12-13T14:41:51Z")
Similar to a message I got when I had a browser hijacker that tried to redirect my Google searches. I assumed that when I searched in Google, the hijacker would do it’s own search, and I’d get the results they wanted. I’m sure Google is wise to this, and recognizes the query or the results. Are you using Internet Explorer? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/6 "2007-12-13T14:59:36Z")
How do you know you’re not a robot? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/7 "2007-12-13T15:28:17Z")
[QUOTE=Philster] Are you using Internet Explorer? [/QUOTE] I work for a big company with thousands of employees constantly using the internet and potentially being exposed to security risks. Why on earth wouldn’t I be? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/8 "2007-12-13T15:32:59Z")
Maybe all the company traffic is coming from a single IP, and Google thinks that is suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/9 "2007-12-13T15:51:33Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] I work for a big company with thousands of employees constantly using the internet and potentially being exposed to security risks. [/QUOTE] Admit it, you’re just a program running on server farm. Your responses in this thread are clearly generated by an artificial intelligence. 😉 Ask you computer tech people about it. It may be a problem with your company’s proxy server or firewall. Or, maybe your tech people need to talk with Google’s tech people to clear up the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/10 "2007-12-13T16:01:08Z")
Could be an infected computer using the same proxy as you, getting the whole darned network flagged as a bot. ---
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/11 "2007-12-13T16:17:48Z")
Hey, robots need love too. beep beep boop bop borp ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/12 "2007-12-13T16:20:41Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] I’ve never tured in my life. ☹ [/QUOTE] Well, that explains it, doesn’t it? Everyone needs practice before taking a test. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/13 "2007-12-13T16:28:23Z")
I’ve gotten that same message a couple of times. I assumed it had to do with the choice of my search keywords, because that’s the only difference from the thousands of other times I used Google from the same computer. I can’t remember what the keywords were, but I think some or all were product brand names. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/14 "2007-12-13T16:35:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] How do you know you’re not a robot? [/QUOTE] Reminds me of the blond who thought she was a robot because she was made by a scientist. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/15 "2007-12-13T17:22:46Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] I’ve gotten that same message a couple of times. I assumed it had to do with the choice of my search keywords, because that’s the only difference from the thousands of other times I used Google from the same computer. I can’t remember what the keywords were, but I think some or all were product brand names. [/QUOTE] Just to clarify, I’m not even entering a Google search - I don’t get the chance. I just enter [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) in the browser and get that page instead of the Google homepage. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/16 "2007-12-13T17:28:10Z")
[QUOTE=ForumBot] Hey, robots need love too. beep beep boop bop borp [/QUOTE] (waving arms indiscriminately and wildly) Danger Will Robinson! Danger! ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/17 "2007-12-13T18:09:38Z")
I’ve had that message a few times over the years. No rhyme or reason to it, it just pops up out of the blue, like a bad penny turning up again, just when I’d forgotten about the last time it annoyed me. I never take any action to make it go away, just use Yahoo and try Google later, when everything’s fine again and it greets me with no memory at all of having just accused me of being a robot. I did make a half-hearted attempt to find out what was going on once and I seem to recall this is a fault at Google’s end, nothing to do with the searcher at all, and that it always rights itself in a short space of time. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/18 "2007-12-13T18:48:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] How do you know you’re not a robot? [/QUOTE] You’re walking through the desert and you look down and see a tortoise. You know what a tortoise is, don’ t you? A turtle, ok? You see a turtle. You flip the tortoise on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over but it can’t. Not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/19 "2007-12-13T18:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > You’re walking through the desert and you look down and see a tortoise. You know what a tortoise is, don’ t you? A turtle, ok? You see a turtle. You flip the tortoise on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over but it can’t. Not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that? I don’t have any hands, Dave. Whenever I see something like this, Dave, I can only attribute it to Human Error. No Hal-5000 has ever let an animal die in the desert if it could help. Every time such a thing happens, it is attributable to human error. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851/20 "2007-12-13T19:04:25Z")
Like **Sam Stone** , I think it’s time you consider the possibility that you _are_ a robot. Google knows best, after all. Have you been waking up in the middle of the afternoon to find empty bottles of motor oil lying around the house? Have your cats been a little more afraid of you lately? Have people been commenting on how uninflected your voice is recently? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-google-think-im-a-robot/429851.md?page=2)