Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic Page released

[Receptional Andy]

The Google Security Blog has announced the release of the "Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic Page" to allow webmasters to see why pages might be flagged as 'harmful'.

...we've developed a Safe Browsing diagnostic page that will provide detailed information about our automatic investigations and findings

Google Security Blog [googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com]

This follows hot on the heels of the Yahoo/McAfee tagging of Y! search results (SearchScan [webmasterworld.com]), and is perhaps a reflection of a level of competition to provide the 'safest' results.

They don't appear to be offering an interface for the results, but you can test a page via URL changes, e.g.:

[google.com...]

[Samizdata]

the Yahoo/McAfee tagging of Y! search results (SearchScan)

Which famously tagged google.com as a purveyor of "Dangerous Downloads" (see TechCrunch).

Google's approach seems much better, but I am alarmed at the way so many anti-virus vendors are now intruding on the SERPs, and in some cases flagging sites they have not even inspected as "Suspicious".