Finally able to sign up for Kijiji after unblocking Google CAPTCHA

On Monday 8 July I was finally able to sign up for a Kijiji account after another site (I forget which one) complained it couldn’t submit a form because I hadn’t completed the CAPTCHA (“completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart”.) I hadn’t seen the CAPTCHA at all on that page because it used a javascript program from google.com to handle it. I block access to most of Google’s servers. Thinking this could be the the root of [issues getting an account on Kijiji,] I unblocked access and tried again. There was indeed a Google CAPTCHA on the page, which I solved, and this time the signup succeeded.

I then went into Kijiji’s Live Chat to inform them of the issue.

Sarah: Welcome to Kijiji’s Live Chat! I would be delighted to help, please allow me a quick moment to review your request before we get started.

Me: Unable to sign up for a Kijiji account if CAPTCHA is blocked

Sarah: Hi Brian, I am sorry to hear that f you are using a desktop or mobile browser, then I firstly recommend you clear your browser history, cookies and cache files. You can use this as a guide for the cookies https://help.kijiji.ca/helpdesk/technical-issue/clearing-kijiji-cookies and then restart your browser. This has helped many members with the same issue. You can then try to post your ad. We also find that the latest Google Chrome seems to work best with the Kijiji site. You could also try posting from a different device or computer.

Me: Thanks for the info. What I’d like you to do is pass the following information on to your web development people.

Me: INFO: Some technically savvy people employ a variey of ad blocking mechanisms to protect against malicious ads.

Me: Sometimes they will also prevent the browser from connecting to sites such as Google, since these people are suspicious of Google’s pervasive data tracking and tendency to store all manner of personal information.

Me: As a result, these people don’t see the Google RECAPTCHA when the page requests it.

Me: The sign up for a new account page is one of these.

Me: With the CAPTCHA not showing at all, the user is unaware it exists.

Me: However, completing all the visible fields on the page and clicking “Submit” causes the page to display a “Success” message and informs the user to wait for the confirmation email.

Me: However, the info was not submitted successfully and the email never arrives.

Me: The page should be updated to allow for the fact some users may block the Google CAPTCHA and inform them the sign up request did not succeed because the CAPTCHA was not completed.

Me: — End —

Sarah: Thanks for taking the time to reach out to us with your feedback. Suggestions are always welcome. In fact, it’s knowing what our users want that help us shape Kijiji., Brian and I will personally forward this along to our team so they can take it into consideration.

Me: Thanks. It took the three tries to sign up for Kijiji because of this …