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Google Captures Web Fraud Prevention Start-Up ReCaptcha

By Andrew Morse, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Google Inc. (GOOG) said Wednesday it is buying a Web fraud prevention start-up that can help the Internet giant on another project: Its effort to scan newspapers and books for Internet distribution.

Google, Mountain View, Calif., said it is buying reCaptcha, a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff that presents puzzles to Web surfers as they register at sites or conduct online transactions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ReCaptcha's technology works by showing users words printed in squiggly typeface that is difficult for computers, which are often used by spammers, to read. ReCaptcha often uses words scanned from archived newspapers and books, making it even more difficult for computers to recognize because the ink and paper is faded.

Google says reCaptcha's technology can help it with some of its high-profile initiatives, like scanning books and newspapers to create searchable archives. As users type in the words, they help teach computers to read scanned text, improving computer accuracy when converting scanned images into plain text, a process known as optical character recognition.

"Having the text version of documents is important because plain text can be searched, easily rendered on mobile devices and displayed to visually impaired users," Google said in a blog post about the deal.

Google's scanning project, which has already amassed a library of millions of out-of-print books, has proved controversial.

In October 2008, Google settled a class-action copyright suit filed by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers to stop the project. The deal, however, has yet to be heard by a federal court, and several parties, including Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and the U.S. Copyright Office, have raised issues with it.

ReCaptcha's technology is used by more than 100,000 Web sites to prevent spam and fraud, according to Google.

In late trading, Google shares were up 2.3% at $488.31.

-By Andrew Morse, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6402; andrew.morse@dowjones.com

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