Google Malware Warning: Big Help or Big Brother? - Taking the Dare
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So what happens if you decide you want to check out the web site anyway? Clicking on the link for the top result of the search I performed took me to this lovely page:
I’d like to point out that the only live links on this warning take you to the StopBadware site and the previous page of search results, respectively. You can cut and paste the URL that Google says you can continue to “at your own risk,” but Google refuses to link to it. Think about that for a minute: Google is actually refusing to take you to the web site that its own algorithms determined was the most relevant in the search results for a particular keyword.
If you’re like me, once you get over that bit of a shock, you’re probably wondering who StopBadware is and why you’re seeing stuff about them (after double checking to make sure Google doesn’t somehow mistakenly think your site distributes malware). According to their FAQ, StopBadware is a “Neighborhood Watch” campaign aimed at fighting badware. “We aim to become a central clearinghouse for research on badware and the bad actors who spread it, and become a focal point for developing collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware.”
StopBadware is backed by Harvard Law’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Oxford University’s Oxford Internet Institute, and other non-profit organizations as well as corporations such as Google, Lenovo, and Sun. It has been in existence for less than a year. Visitors to StopBadware can submit reports on websites that have installed malware on their computers. StopBadware’s site includes guidelines that clearly define what badware is. Be warned, the guidelines read a little bit like legalese.
So, you’ve visited a web site that has installed badware on your computer and you want to report it to StopBadware. The page you use for reporting your experience is very simple; you don’t even have to fill in your name, just the name of the web site or URL where you found the application. You also have to tell them about the malware you encountered and what kind of effect it had (did it make your computer run slowly? Bombard you with pop-ups? Change your preferences when you didn’t request it?). You can include your email address and/or ask StopBadware to follow up with you. You can even be put on a list to receive StopBadware announcements. All of that is optional, however.
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