Google Offers More Details on a Website Tagged as Unsafe
Google labels some sites as unsafe with malware warnings. Unfortunately, there’s no way for users or site owners to know the reason for the warning.
With the recent update, Google will now offer more helpful details for site owners to know why their sites are tagged as unsafe. The latest update is available in Search Console, which is a tool that allows site operators to understand how Google sees their site.
The latest update will now show Google’s safe browsing anti-malware platform. It identifies a site that has been attacked to spread malware.
When Google Safe Browser identifies a security issue, Chrome, Firefox and Safari will display a security warning. It advises users to avoid visiting the site. The warning will continue until the problem has been fixed. Once the problem is fixed, site owners can use the Search Console to request Google to review the notice and removed it.
The latest update will now allow you to find more accurate information about the warning. It doesn’t only show you what the problem is and how you can fix it. The information will include warnings about deceptive pages, uncommon downloads, and malware.
Apart from that, Google will also offer a customized recommendation for every type of issue. It will include sample URLs that you can check to identify the source of the problem. It also provides specific actions that you can take to resolve it.
If you haven’t registered your site yet to Search Console, you should do so now. It’s where Google will use to send you notifications about the issues it finds.
In April 2016, Google’s Safe Browsing feature has already issued less than 60,000 browser warnings each week. Malware warnings are between 30,000 to 40,000. Google also issues warnings for phishing sites and sites that utilize unwanted software.
The more detailed explanations of the problem may address some of the things uncovered in a study done by Google and the University of California, Berkeley. The study looked at almost 800,000 sites flagged by Safe Browsing.
The study discovered the best way to communicate with site operators, i.e. the use of Search Console. It found that sites registered with Search Console have high recovery rates because they relieve notifications from Google.
But the study also found that some sites were hijacked within 30 days. It did suggest that the owners of those sites didn’t address the cause of the attack. With persistent malware warnings, sites will suffer from the lack of traffic.
