Online agents 1 – Ryanair 0
Ryanair has admitted that online agents are continuing to access its fares despite attempts to block them.
The carrier was jubilant last week when it wrongly believed it had won a long battle to prevent two major screen-scraping websites – edreams and Bravofly – from selling its seats.
It said new technology installed on its site, which requires the customer to manually enter a series of letters before they can make a booking, had prevented screen-scrapers from automatically lifting fares.
As a result its system resources are down 40%, making its site easier and quicker to use, said the airline.
However, Ryanair had admitted that the two Spanish sites have since found a way around the technology.
Ryanair has said it will now modify its reCAPTCHA internet security feature to block further unauthorized access to its site.
Head of communications Stephen McNamara said: “reCaptcha has been a huge success as it has eliminated most screenscapers. We always expected bigger scrapers (Bravofly and edreams) to try to find a way around reCaptcha.
"These scrappers are now faced with significant costs to bypass reCaptcha while they continue to experience significant technical issues, which will undoubtedly put off consumers.
"This, by any standard, is a huge success in our ongoing campaign to protect our passengers against the unauthorised screenscrappers who sell our seats at inflated fares and with hidden charges.
"So as we have blocked most, and are costing others time and money its is more a case of Ryanair 2 – Screenscapers 0”
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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