Google reCAPTCHA keys will need to be migrated to a Google Cloud

[jeffschips]

Hello.  I'm new to this and receiving messages that my Google reCAPTCHA keys will need to be migrated to a Google Cloud project by the end of 2025.

It seems like there is also a fee for this, whereas before there was no fee for recaptcha.

Can someone explain in plain engish what this means?  I currently run a server and have used Google reCaptcha keys for years.

Thank you.

[tessa_hudson · Accepted solution]

Hello, 

Your reCAPTCHA classic key will automatically be migrated when it becomes eligible. This means that we will create a new Google Cloud project for you and migrate the key there. You will receive an email when this happens. If you would like to control which project the key becomes associated with, you can migrate it manually following these instructions. 

You do not have to change your integration once the key is migrated. It should continue working on your site as it does now. 

There is no fee for migrating the key, however, your monthly usage may qualify for reCAPTCHA Standard or Enterprise. You will only be charged once you have reached 10,000 assessments each month. Any usage below this amount will remain free. If you have not set up billing on the Google Cloud project, you will receive an email at 10,000 assessments notifying you that your free assessments for the month have been used up and you will not receive reCAPTCHA scores for that key until the next month unless you enable billing.

The email you received should include your average usage for the past 3 months. You can input that number into this pricing calculator to get an idea of how much you will pay monthly if your usage stays the same. For more details on the different pricing tiers, please see our pricing table. 

You can read more about how reCAPTCHA billing works here. 

[Alvarrie]

Hi Tessa,

How can I make sure if I need to set up manually or not. or wait till reCAPTCHA classic key will automatically be migrated when it becomes eligible. Please assist.

[tessa_hudson]

There are a few reasons you might want to migrate manually, 

• You have an existing Google Cloud Project and would like the key to exist there instead of on a new one
• You have more than 10,000 assessments per month on your key and would like to set up billing on a project before migrating to ensure that service is not disrupted after the migration. This is mostly preventative. If you do not have a billing account on the project, you should receive a notification before the service stops working when you've used up your free quota.
• You would like access to advanced features such as Payment Fraud Prevention or Account Defender. 

If none of these apply to you, then you can wait for the automatic migration.

[DigitalQuid]

I'm not clear what Google Cloud project currently uses reCaptcha.  How do I figure that out?   When I go into Google Cloud Console I see 3 projects, and I'm not clear any of them use reCaptcha.  How do I trace the source of the assessments?  Thanks.

[tessa_hudson]

The email you received is for a reCAPTCHA classic key which can be viewed in the reCAPTCHA admin console. The key is not yet associated with a Google Cloud project. You can associate your key(s) with any of those projects by enabling reCAPTCHA, viewing the key on the reCAPTCHA page, and selecting Upgrade Key which will migrate it.

There are more details in this doc.

[priyanshu123P]

v nice

[bsimsalhab]

Thanks much Tessa. That is very helpful.

I have one question, For the Google cloud project created by Google automatically, who will have Owner access role for the GCP project? I am assuming all owners of the reCAPTCHA classic site to be migrated?

[emilymb]

Yes, all of the owners of the classic key will receive ownership invite requests to the Google Cloud Project.

[JW2]

I haven't received this e-mail. My google account e-mail is (PII Removed by Staff)

[Alvarrie]

Hi there, I have received the same migration email but I am unsure whether this applies to us or if it’s a promotional email. Could anyone assist me. Thank you!

[jeffschips]

Thank you Tessa - that is the most cogent and thorough response and much appreciated.

[79DESIGN]

Hi there.  We just "came a cropper" as we needed to change a domain of a key, but the old page had vanished.  I had no emails to say that this was all changing - or even why.

When we go to the area, we see them all in Classic Keys.  Thankfully I've change our Project (somehow) and now had the access I had before.

But are you saying here, that all these keys will just be moved over auto.  We need to do nothing at all?  Ev en new ones we had normally, will be shifted over?

As when you read how to do it, it's very complex.  And some of the detail is missing... detail.

[tessa_hudson]

The keys will be moved over automatically sometime in 2025, but if you need to move them over before then to make changes, or you want to control the project they are added to, it's fairly simple if you already have a project.

Make sure you are signed into the Google account associated with the key. Go to console.cloud.google.com/security/recaptcha and select your project at the top of the page. Enable the API if needed. At the bottom of the reCAPTCHA home page you should see a list of reCAPTCHA classic keys with an "Upgrade" button. Selecting this will migrate the key to that project, your site implementation does not have to change.

If you don't have a GCP project, you'll need to make one first. https://cloud.google.com/recaptcha/docs/migrate-recaptcha#migrate-to-enterprise explains what permissions are required if you run into permission issues.

[Nauman]

Hi @tessa_hudson ,

So google automatically migrated my classic keys to GCP, but problem is , it created multiple new projects with 1 or 2 keys in them. It also created a project named Recapcha that had most of my keys but a lot of them are scattered in multiple projects, can i move them to one project somehow?

[olbapd]

Hi @tessa_hudson ,
You mentioned I don't have to change the integration once migrated. However, I migrated one of my keys which is in use in my Firebase Appcheck and now my app is not working. Is there anything specific that needs to be done when using it with Firebase Appcheck? 

[vprusko]

I migrated one key successfully, but the second key shows as Unprotected - key is requesting tokens (executes), but isn't requesting scores (assessments). In the details, the front-end was integrated successfully, but the backend was not. How to resolve?

[tessa_hudson]

Is this a web key or a different key type?

[vprusko]

Thank you for responding. It is a classic Google ReCAPTCHA key. As it turns out, the backend automatically switched to Protected after many hours passed. I guess it just takes time.....