Google Updates
July update of Google Chrome 68 to mark non-HTTPS websites “not secure”
By: Sai Digbijay Patnaik
Updated On: August 30, 2022
For years, Google has been advising webmasters to upgrade their HTTP websites to HTTPS for better SEO rankings in the future.
Now, it seems like the time has finally arrived when Google will explicitly warn the non-HTTPS sites and users that the connection is not secured.
Starting from July 2018, the new Google Chrome 68 update would display “not secure” in the Omnibox (address bar) for HTTP sites.
Google is also trying to make it easier than ever for webmasters to switch to https. It all comes down to “why does Google want https websites?”. “S” in https stands for secure; meaning the websites with https would ensure secure communications between the server and the client.
Will non-HTTPS websites go down in ranking?
The HTTPS has been around for years, and Google has been testing the “not secure” feature in their Chrome browser for a while.
From next month, the search engine giant would take a firmer step towards ensuring more sites switch to HTTPS standard.
Also, besides the SEO related perks, it has also become cheaper. An HTTPS website would even perform better and have new, better, and more powerful features.
Since last year, there has been steady progress, which seems positive. Out of 100 top sites, 81 sites are using https. About 68% of Chrome traffic on Android plus Windows and 78% on Mac and Chrome OS is protected now.
The new Google Chrome update will have a significant impact on websites that don’t switch to HTTPS. As compared to the past, the new Chrome 68’s “not secure” indication would affect how secure users feel.
This means HTTP websites might encounter a higher bounce rate as users would immediately leave a site that is not secure. It will also have a negative impact on e-commerce sales, advertising impressions, and affiliate clicks for the website.
With above 50 percent of the internet browsers being Chrome, the Google Chrome 68 update will create a significant impact.
For regions, like South America (about 74 percent Chrome traffic) and Israel (about 66 percent Chrome traffic), the impact is expected to be bigger.
The stats are a clear indication that the upgradation cost to HTTPS doesn’t matter as much as the negative impact anymore.
July 2018 being the deadline when the “not secure” warnings would start showing, every web publisher needs to consider switching to HTTPS.
If you are not technically trained on how to move from HTTP to HTTPS, it is highly recommended to seek the help of SEO service company to take care of it.
