Google SSL HTTPS Search

Martin Brinkmann
May 22, 2010
Updated • Dec 10, 2012
Google, Search
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15

Google has just enabled https on their core search domain google.com. Users who want to access the encrypted Google web search can point their browsers to https://www.google.com/ to do so. The technology, which is known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), encrypts the data traffic between the user's computer and the Internet server they want to access.

Https sites are widely known in the financial sector, on shopping sites and during log ins.The session-wide encryption ensures that information entered in a session is safe from being intercepted by another user in the computer network.

Internet users can verify that the connection uses SSL by looking at the url in the address bar. The connection is secure if it begins with https. Google has created a new logo to further inform users. The Google SSL logo is another visual indicator that SSL is used to connect to Google.

In this stage SSL is only enabled for Google web search and not for other services offered by Google such as Google Maps or Google Images.

Users might also experience a slower than regular Google search experience due to the additional step of establishing a secure connection.

It has to be noted that SSL does not provide complete security. A user connecting to Google https can be sure that the traffic (like search phrases) will be encrypted while on the Google website. Most search results on the other hand make no use of https which means that it can still be possible (for an ISP or network user) to identify the target websites.

SSL will also not aid if viruses or trojans are installed on the user's computer system.

SSL search is nevertheless a step in the right direction. It is likely that Google will roll out encryption to some of their other services in the near future.

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Comments

  1. Jojo said on May 22, 2010 at 7:36 pm
    Reply

    I suppose Google is primarily implementing this so that network admins/management can’t see what people are searching for in the workplace?

    1. Martin said on May 23, 2010 at 6:36 pm
      Reply

      Jojo yes it protects in the network mainly but it also means the ISP cannot see the data that is exchanged.

  2. Ronan Jouchet said on May 22, 2010 at 5:48 pm
    Reply

    Mycroft has an easy to install Firefox search plugin:
    http://mycroft.mozdev.org/search-engines.html?name=google+ssl

  3. John Mack said on May 22, 2010 at 4:59 pm
    Reply

    Google’s arrogance is amazing. As if Google is trustworthy.

    Give me a break. These were the same guys collecting information off of WiFi.

  4. null said on May 22, 2010 at 4:40 pm
    Reply

    To make Chrome search the HTTPS Google site by default, add a custom search engine with the following parameters:

    name: sGoogle
    keyword: https://google.com
    URL: https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=%s

    Then set it as the default for Chrome and you’re done!

    1. RvdP said on May 22, 2010 at 5:00 pm
      Reply

      Using the search string this works a bit nicer:

      https://www.google.com/search?{google:RLZ}{google:acceptedSuggestion}{google:originalQueryForSuggestion}sourceid=chrome&ie={inputEncoding}&q=%s

      1. RvdP said on May 22, 2010 at 7:52 pm
        Reply

        Post doesn’t look too good but:

        [code]https://www.google.com/search?{google:RLZ}{google:acceptedSuggestion}{google:originalQueryForSuggestion}sourceid=chrome&ie={inputEncoding}&q=%s[/code]

  5. Paulus said on May 22, 2010 at 4:04 pm
    Reply

    this does not work with the command /ncr behind google.com. There is standing google.com but i reality you are on you country page.
    Also the greasmonkey script old google does not work with this page.

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