Google-search – “Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network.”

captchagoogle-search

I frequently see the below message when using Google Search:

Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network.
This page checks to see if it's really you sending the requests, and
not a robot. Why did this happen?

This page appears when Google automatically detects requests coming
from your computer network which appear to be in violation of the
Terms of Service. The block will expire shortly after those requests
stop. In the meantime, solving the above CAPTCHA will let you continue
to use our services.

This traffic may have been sent by malicious software, a browser
plug-in, or a script that sends automated requests. If you share your
network connection, ask your administrator for help — a different
computer using the same IP address may be responsible. Learn more

Sometimes you may be asked to solve the CAPTCHA if you are using
advanced terms that robots are known to use, or sending requests very
quickly.

Then I have to solve a CAPTCHA which I normally get incorrect and then have to solve another one. I don't have any malware or suspicious plugins. It seems to frequently happen during peak hour, both in Windows and OS X using Firefox.

I think the problem is to do with my ISP using a shared IP for all users. I have filed a support request with Google without any luck.

Any other suggestions?

Best Answer

Short Answer

If you think that you are being blocked because your ISP share IPs among a lot of users (shared public IP address):

  1. ask your ISP if they could assign you
    1. to a different group of users
    2. a dedicated IP address
  2. change of ISP.

Explanation

From "Unusual traffic from your computer network"

I shouldn't be getting blocked

Google Search blocks IPs, IP ranges, and in some cases, whole ISPs, when a large percent of the traffic entering our networks is abusive.

If the blocking started within the past few weeks, it is likely to be related to the use of the "Hola VPN" browser plugin, or a program for Mac/Win/Android/iOS. The best thing to do is to uninstall the Hola VPN from your computer or network.

If you are an Internet Service Provider (ISP), explain to your users why it is important for them to uninstall this type of VPN. When the abuse hitting our network stops, we automatically stop blocking the IP(s)/ISP(s) that were sending the bad traffic. Learn more about Hola VPNs here.

Unfortunately, sometimes non-Hola traffic gets looped in with the abusive traffic. We are working on a way to change our protections so that we'll only block Hola traffic in the future.