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You are here: Home / Chrome / First Look at How Google Chrome Plans to Alert Users to Non-HTTPS Websites

First Look at How Google Chrome Plans to Alert Users to Non-HTTPS Websites

January 28, 2015 at 7:58 am PST By Jennifer Slegg

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googlechromesecureAfter much speculation that Google Chrome would be alerting users to any website that doesn’t employ HTTPS, we finally know how Google plans to flag unsecured websites in Google Chrome, the different settings it uses and best of all, anyone can test it out.

Ilya Grigorik posted what he calls his “New favorite Chrome Canary flag” and it doesn’t look that bad for those who have an unsecure website.

The flag they use is actually much smaller than what many webmasters were fearing, bring up concerns about pop-up alerts or huge red flags that would result in and when not visiting the site, even for sites that are being unsecured wasn’t a huge concern, such as information site that does not collect any data.

What chrome is using instead is simply a tiny X that appears next to the URL.

Any user can currently download the Google Chrome Canary. To view the new unsecure flag, download Chrome Canary, then go to chrome://flags/ Then scroll here:

chrome canary unsecureThis feature is currently turned on by default, however the default setting is to not alert for a site being unsecure, and it sounds as though they are planning to turn it into a default feature for all users in a later Chrome build. What setting will be the default when it goes live is anyone’s guess, however “mark non-secure origins as non-secure” will be a likely choice.

You are what the different options show in the address bar field depending on the choice.

Mark non-secure origins as non-secure:

chrome unsecureMark non-secure origins as dubious:

chrome dubious

Mark non-secure origins as neutral:

chrome neutral

Mark non-secure origins as Default:

chrome defaultAs you can see, neutral and default are currently the same.

However, one does have to wonder how many people will actually notice it, unless they are specifically looking for it.  While tech savvy users would know, the majority of non-tech savvy people would either not notice it or not know what it means – clicking on the X doesn’t give users any reasons to be alarmed if they do bother to look.

chrome unsecure2

Last year, many webmasters began switching to HTTPS earlier this year after Google announced it would be used as a ranking signal. Google later backtracked slightly to state that it wasn’t a noticeable signal for webmasters but they still recommended switching as good practice.  In fact, Google announcing it as a ranking signal increased the number of secured sites by 3%, the largest jump ever seen.

It is also worth remembering that Google did confirm that content sites were affected by HTTPS, and this new Chrome flag is showing for sites that do not collect personal information from visitors.

If you have been sitting on the fence about switching to HTTPS, the Google Chrome team put together a guide on making the switch.

And of course, this is still testing in the test version of Google Chrome Canary, so things could always change before it makes it to the live Chrome.

H/T to Barry Schwartz who spotted the Google+ post.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post
Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.
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Latest posts by Jennifer Slegg (see all)

  • 2022 Update for Google Quality Rater Guidelines – Big YMYL Updates - August 1, 2022
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  • Rethinking Affiliate Sites With Google’s Product Review Update - April 23, 2021
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  • Google Updates Experiment Statistics for Quality Raters - October 6, 2020

Filed Under: Chrome, Google, SEO

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Trackbacks

  1. Google's Change to Chrome Showing non-HTTPS Sites Launching in Chrome 42 - The SEM Post says:
    April 14, 2015 at 5:16 am

    […] certificates. We have known for some time that Google was making the change, as back in January they announced that Google would begin flagging non-HTTPS sites in an upcoming […]

  2. Mozilla Announces Plans to Deprecate HTTP in Firefox - The SEM Post says:
    April 16, 2015 at 5:46 am

    […] Just in case you need another reason to consider making the HTTPS switch for your websites, Mozilla has announced they have begun making steps to deprecate HTTP in Firefox.  This follows a move by Chrome to show warnings for unsecure websites. […]

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