January 11th, 2007
Google gives Kansas Education Service Center the finger too
Do you remember when Google launched their interstitial pages in conjunction with StopBadware.org? When it was first introduced, I was quite excited about it — finally they were helping the average user protect themselves from malicious websites.
Well, what happens when a good site gets blacklisted? Usually there is a reason for it; they got hacked or they are unknowingly linking to something that might contain malicious software. Well, lets take Greenbush Southeast Kansas Education Service Center for example. A search on Google for "kansas education center" brings up the result in question — greenbush.org.
Clicking the link brings up an interstitial page that explains you might be putting yourself at risk – to visit the site you must enter the URL manually. Greenbush.org is nothing to be afraid of — unless you are afraid of the education system of course.
In fact, in some circumstances a white-hat company could be completely humiliated if Google ranks them as #1 for relevant terms. When a user clicks the search result link, this warning could easily scare off existing or potential clients. I don't know if this already happens, but Google should contact website owners before their site is flagged with an explanation why — even if it has to be automated.
[via CIO]
Garett Rogers is employed as a programmer for iQmetrix, which specializes in retail management software for the wireless industry.
See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
Subscribe to Googling Google via Email alerts or RSS.
