Screen-scrapers scrambling to regain access to Ryanair’s website
So apparently I overestimated Ryanair’s wisdom a little recently. Yes, I know, I should have never forgotten the company’s obsessiveness. Anyway, it appears that, after coming up with a new security system, immediately losing a sizable part of its internet traffic and quickly turning the system down again, Ryanair has eventually decided to keep the captcha online.
Needless to say, the airline was quick to celebrate the sucess of its new security system, boasting the fact that its flights were no longer listed on popular screen-scaping websites eDreams and Bravofly. However, in a sadly comic turn of event, it only took a few hours for the websites to find a new way into the airline’s booking/quoting system and get back to displaying prices online.
Apparently a little humbled by the situation, Ryanair has taken a low profile and declared in an update to its previous announcement that it would now try to update its security system after screen-scrapers had found a way back into the website. It’s not particularly surprising seeing how quickly offers for free-lance programmers capable of side-stepping Ryanair’s new security system recently spawned on the internet.
Well, it seems I really did talk a bit fast the other day. Ryanair’s nowhere near ending its war with screen-scrapers, apparently believing it will manage to preserve its internet revenues without losing any potential customers. And as far screen-scrapers, it seems pretty clear they’re not going to let their biggest source of business get away so easily either.
