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.
