Bing now asks some searchers to verify they are human

Search Engine Roundtable reports that Bing is asking some searchers to verify they are human before it shows results. The report is thin, and this article states only what it contains.

What is Bing showing users?#

According to Search Engine Roundtable, some users who search on Bing first see a “verify you are human” screen. It tells them to take one last step and solve the challenge below to continue, and the reported challenge is a checkbox. Sachin Patel described it as appearing when a user searches for something, before the results. The evidence is a screenshot Patel supplied.

Can anyone reproduce it?#

Not in the source. Barry Schwartz wrote that he cannot replicate it. The report does not say what triggers the screen, how many users see it or whether it is a test or a permanent change. Bing has not been quoted explaining it. Treat it as an unconfirmed, intermittent behavior.

How does this relate to Google?#

The same publication covers Google separately. It reports that Google has been blocking scrapers and third-party tracking tools more effectively since around 13 September, with Nozzle’s Derek Perkins citing about an 80% drop in the data he could get. That report does not link Bing’s screen to any of it, and neither do we.

What should SEOs do about it?#

Nothing that changes a strategy yet. If you run rank tracking or scraping against Bing, watch for challenge pages in your responses and log them rather than treating them as results. For the wider context, see the technical SEO hub. We will update this piece if Bing comments.