Aug 28 2008

What is sorry.google.com?

Filed under: Security » Spyware, Software » Web Applications,

Tools:

Google prevents automated queries

Sorry.google.com is the page Google serves you (or an application) when you fail to answer it's human-verification question. Google has instituted this new policy - randomly checking to see if queries submitted to it (ie. searches) are done by human beings (as opposed to software applications). The purpose of this is two-fold. On the one hand, blocking the search query and redirecting the user to sorry.google.com alerts the user to potential spyware on their PC; on the other hand, it prevents users from utilizing software to query the Google search engine.

Google protects you from spyware

On the sorry.google.com page, you'll see Google recommending you run anti-virus and anti-spyware checkers. Why? If spyware is present on your computer, it may be accessing the Internet, and will often execute Google queries. If Google detects this, instead of giving the application what it's looking for, it will block the request and serve the sorry.google.com page instead. On this page you'll see recommendation for you to scan and clean your PC in the event of an infection.

Google blocks Google ranking and utility tools

Just because you see the page sorry.google.com doesn't mean your PC is infected with spyware. It's also possible that you have a browser plugin (Firefox add-on) or software utility installed, such as a Google ranking checker, that performs regular Google queries. Since Google randomly executes human verification, the utility will get caught, and eventually the sorry.google.com page will get served.

While this reduces the load on Google's servers, it also prevents software and utilites that rely on the Google API and querying capabilities to function. Bottom line, if you're repeatedly getting this error, you should run an anti-spyware utility (such as SpyZooka), first, and then check your browsers for plug-ins (such as Google rankings tools, etc.) and other software that might be accessing the Internet and querying Google.

Tools:

PLEASE help! downloading time

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2010-07-14 16:04.

Hey guys,

I am also getting the captcha thing like every 5 seconds now. But also, I have been downloading a book, about 400 pages. I started at 10 pm, it's now 4 am. I have no idea if it's even actually downloading.

The bottom just says retrieved, then some other things, then retrieved again - but no other indication that there is "progress"...like "downloaded 50%" or something.

Any insight into this? Am I doing something wrong?

Furthermore, now I also cannot access Google books. For like 1 second it gives me the "enter the code" but then immediately disappears and says "Oops...this server appears broken - DNS error - server cannot be found." Anyone know what this means?

Meanwhile, it looks like files are still being retrieved... which doesn't sound right. Maybe it was never working?

Finally, I am using the mgbd.exe ... and I just installed Spybot S&D. Do I need to start over again??

Bottom line - does this all mean I am "banned"?

Any suggestions/explanations would be greatly appreciated. I am a student in China (from the US) and ordering all these books would be astronomically expensive. And many are not even available in China so my options are really limited!

Thanks again!

Google and China

Submitted by cwd on Wed, 2010-07-14 17:00.

Google is in the middle of shaky relations with China, and as far as I know, they've taken down their websites in China and are forwarding everything to Hong Kong. I'm surprised you're even able to access Google from China, but if you're experiencing problems that's probably why.

The way to verify this would be to use another PC to try and access the same Google page. If it works on that PC, then maybe there's an issue with your PC or ISP (Internet Service Provider) that is preventing you from accessing Google.

Good luck - keep us posted and greetings from the USA :)

Google screws up

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sat, 2010-05-01 06:39.

Very interesting topic you've discussed here. Google screws up from time to time.

Not right

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2010-04-06 06:34.

In a typical setup there are hundreds of computers behind a single natted IP address. And most users set Google as their home page. So even if there is no spyware, the Google server thinks that there is, due to the frequent requests from the users every time they open a new browser page.

This is turning out bad for Google as people in my company have now started setting other search engines as their home page. This is leading to them not using Google anymore. So, here we have Google shooting itself in the leg.

Stop it!

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sun, 2010-04-04 03:42.

It's not a Google page, keep your dirty hands away from Google!

Better check your computer protection...

Google user

WTF?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2010-03-22 17:43.

No captcha appears in my "Sorry..." page and I already checked that my computer isn't infected. Reloading the page or re-sending the search query still gives me the Sorry page. Google = EPIC FAIL

LPC

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2010-02-19 06:57.

If anyone have problem then LPC

I don't care

By Google Admin

sorry.google.com

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2009-12-29 09:13.

This is an example of a safety measure which forfeits itself by being too strict (or being not perfect?) My fully patched XP Professional PC is protected by Avira Premium Security Suite which reports: "no infection" but the Internet not being accessible hurts our business.

Who can we hold responsible? Reminds me of Kafka. No use giving my email address; it's not accessible!

Stop the sensationalism

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2010-02-15 09:22.

Seriously, you have to type in a captcha and you're in. You don't lose your connection to the Internet and others don't lose connection to you. I'm not saying it doesn't suck, but come on man. Be real.

Even if I type the Captcha

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-12-09 20:52.

Even if I type the Captcha correctly many times, it never goes beyond the sorry.google.com URL.

Trying making sure you can accept cookies

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2010-03-26 14:06.

The sorry page requires cookies to be set to let Google know you are human.

Almighty Google

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sat, 2009-08-22 07:10.

Ah, I was wondering about that Google Sorry page. What a pain in the butt - but I suppose if it's helping my computer get infected I should be grateful. Oh, how we all bow down to the almighty Google...

Google is genius

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2009-06-16 09:35.

And this is another thing I didn't know about Google. I have to admit that the guys who invented this research machine are totally intelligent. Congratulations to them and I hope that they will keep up the good work because their competitors are also working hard to make some room for themselves.

It's also important!

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sun, 2009-05-24 01:29.

When you start a website - keep track of these sorts of stats - such as your Alexa ranking, the amount of traffic & page views, the number of pages that Google or Yahoo have indexed, the number of links they show - it's hard to know where you're going with your website unless you can see progress - and you can't see progress unless you know where you once were.

Google Sorry Page

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-05-13 01:02.

I must say Google does a better job of handling errors in ways that humans can understand than I've seen other services do. At least you're not simply "mysteriously" locked out of the site - you're given instructions on how to fix the problem in a way a non-technical person can understand. If only Microsoft could learn from this...

WTF?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sun, 2010-02-07 23:10.

What kind of comment is that? You're a F***!

Why ??????

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2010-05-28 00:59.

You didn't understand what he (or she ) said ???

Many other websites handle cases such as Google's "sorry" in a very blind manner. For example: I had such an experience with Wikipedia a few days ago. They blocked not only my account but also the IP address range of our network, yet I don't know for what reason.

Google Error!

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2009-01-23 08:34.

Few days back I was checking my web design and all of a sudden, I encountered an error. It said something was wrong with my browser - "access denied to Google servers." I assumed it to be some sort of Google Error page. Later, however, it fixed itself. Any idea what it could be? Was it something wrong with my firewall or did Google really go down (which I find hard to believe).

Switch to Yahoo. It's good and not annoying like Google search

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2008-12-16 15:27.

Dang I hate it when I find no spyware nor virus on my system, refresh my computer, but the Google sorry page still pops up say it's sorry. I am switching to Yahoo and it's working fine now. Thank you Yahoo and good bye Google.