It's a good thing they make it harder for bots, but they shouldn't make it harder for people. I sometimes get annoyed by these captchas because even I can't enter them correctly . A more efficient way of using captchas is to let people recognise objects or to select the right image. This technique has been used already, people have to select the photo with a cat out of 9 different images.
A lot more easy and almost impossible to crack.

It's basically like Windows Genuine Advantage. Meant to deter pirates, but makes life terrible for the legitimate consumer.

xboxrulz

they also have it even for the yahoo email! its annoying really, every time i send an email i have to type in the code.

at least their image works! i cant signup to vbulletin forums for some reason cos the verification images dont load, its annoying.

yahoo did have a nice idea though, it stops spammers and spam bots from going round annoying people.

The problem with image based systems is there are only a finite number of images to choose from. Let’s say I created the above example with nine images and I had to pick the cat. In order to break the code I would download every single image on the system, I will assume 1000 images in this case. I then make a MD5 hash of the images so I can accurately determine the image displayed. I take a long afternoon and enter what the image is into a lookup table.

To create an automatic system I then go to the CAPTCHA page and see what it wants, a cow for example. I then download the nine images presented to me and use the lookup table to find the cow. I submit the answer with the cow and the system is broken. Even if the system has a million images, the foundation for this hack is the same and can eventually be broken.

To me the most annoying part of requiring a CAPTCHA to get into chat is the implementation. When using the official Messenger client you have to click a hyperlink and an external web browser is opened with the link. This adds at least 5-10 seconds to get into a room. YahElite on the other hand has an image browser built in so it displays the code in a new window without having to open your web browser. I was extremely surprised to find that the latest beta of Messenger 9 still has to have a web browser. It looks like this would have been one of the first things they fixed.

Yahoo chat rooms are, always have been, and always will be a complete waste of time with their lack of moderation capabilities. There will always be spammers and otherwise generally obnoxious people because there's no simple way to get rid of them. The best you can hope for is to change rooms, in which event you'll encounter new spammers.

The system is completely broken, so I avoid it like the plague. Never did have an intelligent conversation with anyone in one of those damn rooms.

it aint workin
Captchas + Yahoo! Chat = No Bots (for Now)

What do you call the interruption of cam site transmissions ongoing in all the rooms?Those arent real people wanting to chat! it is robotic scrolling and not being manned by a live person;how is it that you allow that kind of crap,and why or do you get a piece of thier action? I am giving up on yahoo integrity-they have none as far as I have seen and they never answer inquiries with resolution! Bunch of bunk--and I Will Continue to harrass cammers as long as they harrass me!

-reply by norm