[LINK] Why does Firefox send non-URL text in the location bar to Google etc.?

[Stilgherrian]

On 04/01/2011, at 1:09 PM, Birch, Jim wrote:
> Alex (Maxious) Sadleir wrote:
> 
>> I don't think Google would let an actual malicious page get that high
>> (#1) before being removed but the fact that a blog post with the right
>> title/inbound links is able to rise so quickly and so high against a
>> giant like facebook is a little worrying.

"Worrying"? Google is about finding the most relevant material, not that which kinda-matches and is on a huge site.

>From my own experience, regularly-updated sites that post new material quickly -- such as many blogs -- are currently given quite good rankings by Google. Initially, anyway.

I would find it more "worrying" if Google automatically gave the obvious giants the prime spots.


> Yes, but,
> 
> Google checks sites for malware:
> https://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=4544
> 9
> 
> Google also tries to identify other compromised sites:
> http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20026015-245.html
> 
> Firefox will block these sites by default.  Not sure about other
> browsers, but I think IE does something similar.

Yes, Internet Explorer 8 will, by default, warn of any suspicious sites found. Microsoft's mothership responds quite quickly, thanks to the huge installed user base.

Of course the paranoid will screech about "letting Microsoft see my browsing history"...

Disclosure: I travelled to Redmond in May 2010 on Microsoft's tab to learn about their many security initiatives. My main reaction was that many critics seem not to have updated their knowledge about Microsoft in 5 to 10 years.

Stil


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