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What Is The Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic Page?
Spyware and Google
Online Security
Online security is important, given that many people enter personal information online every day for purchases through websites and other reasons. The Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic Page is a great way for people to check the safety of a website they use regularly or a website that they plan to share valuable personal information with online.
The Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic Page
The Google page reveals a great deal of safety information about a particular website.
Internet users, including online shoppers, can use the website to gain site information that prevents them from falling prey to spam, spyware, and other malicious software. Webmasters can use the page to check the status of their site and fix up any issues indicated on the page.
Spyware can severely damage computers and site users can find their personal information hacked. If computer backup is not in place, there can be disastrous consequences such as lost information.
The Diagnostic Page asks four questions about the website entered into the URL (directions to come):
What is the current listing status for (URL of particular website)?
Text indicates if the site is or is not currently listed as suspicious.
What happened when Google visited the site?
The date when Google last visited the site is given, as is any historical content about malicious software attached to the particular URL.
Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?
The time period for the activity evaluated by Google is 90 days. The statement reads:
"Over the past 90 days, (URL) did / did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites."
Has this site hosted malware?
Here is a yes or no statement as to whether the URL has hosted malicious software over the past 90 days. The time period is always 90 days. Any associated sites are also listed.
Safe Browsing Diagnostic Page: An Example
How to Access the Google Page
Access the page easily by opening up a new session of Google and then entering the URL:
http://google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=
Complete the address by entering the website in question. For example, I check the status of the electronics website Best Buy PCS by entering this URL:
http://google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http://www.bestbuypcs.com/
Pressing Enter at this point brings up the Safe Browsing Diagnostic Page for Best Buy PCS on your computer screen.
Benefits of the Tool
The Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic Page is a Webmaster Tool as well as a way for customers to evaluate a company's website. The information helps Webmasters clean up their sites as the page template includes links to information about malware and cleaning up malicious software. The page is also useful to prospective customers of online businesses who want to evaluate the safety of the site before providing personal information there.
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Comments
- Author
Great to see you and thanks for the vote and share. The tool is valuable if you want to check the status of your website.
Awesome Hub Christy, I haven't even seen this tool yet. Checking it out now. Up and Shared.
- Author
Thank-you CravedNovelist for your perceptive comment. It is appreciated!
Christy I have never heard of this whatsoever. It's awesome that you let everyone know of things are less common and more useful to people like us who spend a lot of time online and browsing. I appreciate your consistency with usefulness. Good job. :)
- Author
Thank Carol! You are doing so great here at HubPages, it is hard to believe you have not been writing here longer. Stay in touch :)
Always such good information. I wish you lived close by so I could nag you all the time. Just kidding. Thanks for sharing this valuable bit with us. I am voting up and sharing.
- Author
Thanks everyone for your comments! Glad you learned about this tool now too, and it's great that it is free and always available for use. Let's stay safe! I appreciate the votes and shares, as I do that you took time to comment.
Awesome hub Christy! Web safety is so important and this is information that I did not know. Thanks for a very useful article. Up, up and away… :)
Now I know why she has a sweet smile..She knows stuff we overlook on the net. Thanks for your help my friend. Book marked!
You write hubs on stuff I have never heard before, even though I'm on the computer ten hours per day. I need you around, Christy, or I'd be completely lost.
Thank you my dear; great information.
Thank you for writing this very helpful post on Google's browsing site. I often wonder about sites as they ask for personal information. The Https doesn't always make me feel safe as it is listed in the URL. I am keeping this in my files for use. Voted up!
Useful Hub! I'm bookmarking it for further use. Voted up!
Great share here Christy! Internet security is of paramount importance these days as we work more and more online each day.
Voted up, useful and interesting. Sharing the benefit of this hub and free tool with more readers.
This is a very useful tool. Thank you for sharing this. I am always paranoid about viruses and malware, so I try to be very careful when browsing the internet. I also check my computer for viruses regularly. Good work ChristyWrites.
- Author
Awesome, Mark! Glad you are able use the page. You are the second comment to compare this tool to Norton. Glad to help, and it's a free tool too!
- Author
@Janine, Thanks for the great feedback! You are such a great motivator.
@Vellur, Yes there are threats to both users and site owners. Thanks Vellur.
@Glimmer, Glad to help with the learning process.
@Marc, Interesting! I suppose great minds think alike :)
@Laura, Glad to hear it! Thanks for stopping by to read today.
Good information Christy! I have Norton Insight but after trying the Google diagnostic page (which I never heard of (Thanks)) I think it provides better and more up to date information then the clunky Norton product.
Christy Writes, I agree with the comments made above by Janine Huldie. Another timely and informative article. Thank you.
Funny, i was looking for something exactly like this last week, and had to settle for programming my Norton package to do it for me! Wish you had done this a week ago, it works perfectly! Great, informative and useful hub!
Wow - this is interesting. I have been learning so much about the internet since starting to write here on hubpages. Thanks
Online security is a major issue now and Google Safe Browsing seems the way to go. Thanks for sharing.
Christy, seriously you are so the go to for Google site information and I really thank you for this. I always leave your hub articles learning something new that I didn't know before and really do appreciate that. Great job here and really did example Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic Page to this novice. Have of course voted up and shared too!
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