Google now considers website security for search rankings
There really isn't such a thing as being too secure online, and Google is trying something new to get more website owners thinking about keeping their users' information safe. After a few months of experimentation, the search giant now considers how secure a site is when it decides how prominently it gets placed in search results.
It'll be neat to see just how Google's push for security ultimately influences what our search results look like, but don't expect a seismic shift just yet. According to a post on Google's Online Security blog, the security factor won't be the biggest decider of how well a site ranks in your search results -- it only comes into play for 1% of all search queries right now. Still, the team readily admits that could change down the line -- they just might up its importance to "encourage" webmasters to adopt HTTPS security for their sites. Google's been pushing this security angle for a while now, and it's been eager to spearhead the push at home by encrypting the data that flows between its services. This newest move doesn't come completely out of the blue, either. Matt Cutts, Google's webspam chief, said earlier this year that he'd like to see the company reward responsible sites in this very way -- frankly, it's about time.
