A new report published today claims that Google may considering boosting search engine ranking of websites that use encryption. Google’s web spam chief Matt Cutts hinted at this possibility recently at a conference. He’s a powerful voice as far as the search team goes, and has long been a liaison between the search team and web developers.
People familiar with the matter tell the Wall Street Journal that Cutts has also spoken about this change in private conversations. Apparently internal discussions at the company about this change are still at a very early stage, so its likely that this change won’t be happening anytime soon. When contacted by the scribe, Google said that it has nothing to announce at this time.
Google constantly tweaks its search algorithm to make sure that people don’t try to game the system, and that user experience is not compromised. It measures over 200 “signals” to determine where a website should rank. Adding encryption to the mix might not be aimed at improving search results. The aim here could be to enact a change across the world wide web.
Debate about online security and privacy has heated up since last year when word about NSA’s clandestine electronic spying programs broke. Encryption may not be a foolproof method, but it does add a barrier between users and attackers who’re waiting to pounce on a victim to either snoop on their activities or steal their information.
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