In an effort to track the progress of HTTPS adoption, Google will now include information related to HTTPS in its transparency report. Within the report, Google will be tracking both its own sites, and some of the web’s most trafficked sites.
”Our aim with this project is to hold ourselves accountable and encourage others to encrypt so we can make the web even safer for everyone.”
Here’s what Google will be tracking:
- Google Sites: The report will be updated every week with the progress Google has made towards converting its own sites to HTTPS.
- Third-party sites: In addition to Google properties, Google will be tracking data about the HTTPS connections on some of the world’s top websites. Top websites were determined based on a combination of Google internal data and Alexa data.
- HTTPS Certificates: Since certificates are used to tell a browser that a website is safe and legitimate, Google has launched a new tool where you can look up the certificate information for any site on the web. You can see who issued the certificate, when it was issued, and how long it will be valid for.
A Look at the Top Third-Party Sites
Google says these are the top sites on the web running HTTPS by default (Warning: Some contain explicit content. Proceed with caution before visit any URL you’re not familiar with.)
Google Wants Encryption for Everyone
Google’s goal is “encryption for everyone”, but this can be a challenge for some sites. These are the most common roadblock sites run into when migrating to HTTPS.
- Older hardware and/or software that doesn’t support modern encryption technologies.
- Governments and organizations that may block or otherwise degrade HTTPS traffic.
- Organizations that may not have the desire or technical resources to implement HTTPS.
Google concedes that implementing encryption is not easy, but it’s becoming “increasingly essential”. It is the company’s hope that its own encryption efforts will encourage more sites to run on HTTPS by default.
Featured Image Credit: Pavel Ignatov / Shutterstock.com
