google blacklists the entire internet as “harmful”
Some of you may have noticed this, like I did, while searching for something online. This is a very interesting case of how much the internet relies on Google.
On Saturday, 31st Jan, for about 40 minutes, all search results from Google were labelled as “This site may harm your computer”. I thought I was the only one experiencing it, but it felt odd that evey single site would be blacklisted, so I did a proxy check, same thing, then searched around for other people having the same issue. Turns out it was a global event. I even watched it on CNN later in the day.
Amusingly enough, a search for “google” returned the same error. Essentially Google blacklisted it’s own website!
Even if you chose to ignore the warning, all you’d get was an error message that looked like this:
What this meant is, every single website linked from the Google search page was inaccessible, including Google’s own site. Now, if Google serves millions of searches per minute, imagine how much of the internet traffic was actually lost.
I won’t bore you with the tech jargon, but see the following links for detailed info:
Google’s explanation / apology for the issue.
StopMalware.org (The guys that work with Google to filter bad sites)
Techcrunch has an almost step by step account.
I wonder what the cash loss figures were? [ Update ] The Guardian.co.uk puts it at $2-3M. That’s about 5 billion Uganda Shillings. In less than an hour.
Wow.
—
Audio:
Jimmy Buffet – Margaritaville
—
Offtopic:
Apart from lost advertising revenue – which one expert estimated at $2-3m (£1.4-2m) – the incident is embarrassing for the world’s most popular search engine, known for its reliability.
- The Guardian.co.uk
Related items
7 Responses to “google blacklists the entire internet as “harmful””
Leave a Reply
jasmine on February 1st, 2009
same thing happened to me yesterday! a simple search on the blue gum tree returned the same warning on ALL the results!
following your links now.
hi.
Solomon King on February 1st, 2009
Hey Jaz!
Miss Cheri on February 1st, 2009
All that money lost? Wow, but I figure they will “replave” it ASAP.
Miss Cheri’s last blog post..The Truth and nothing but the truth
Mobile Mark Antennas on April 1st, 2009
Mobile Mark Antennas: Antenna manufacturer for GPS, Wireless LAN, ISM, 802.11, Broadband Wireless Internet, U-NII, HiperLAN, Cellular, PCS, GSM.
Mobile Mark Antennas – Antenna Design and Manufacture
tsys inc on April 2nd, 2009
Our design and packaging engineers have launched new productsElectronic Product Engineering
JesselliCouture on April 6th, 2009
Luxurious, high quality, chic, yet sophisticated. Jesselli Couture’s handbags, totes, clutches and wallets are made from the finest materials and attention to detail.
jessellicouture on June 16th, 2009
We sell Classic envelope style croc clutch magnetic exterior closure and zippered top opening underneath with Inner pocket and fabric lining. Clutch Handbags, Clutch Siena Purse, Cheap Clutch Red Purses from Jesselli Couture.