Google: HTTPS use continues to soar

More than half of pages loaded and two-thirds of total time spent by Chrome desktop users occur via HTTPS, according to Google

Google has noticed a significant increase in the adoption of HTTPS over the last several years, a blog post published Thursday notes.

The migration of websites to HTTPS, a protocol for secure communications that employs encryption over computer networks, is a positive step towards a “safer web for all,” Google’s security team wrote in a blog post. HTTPS is used to authenticate websites, offering an added a layer of protection between data flowing from an online visitors and the host, among other things.

“More than half of pages loaded and two-thirds of total time spent by Chrome desktop users occur via HTTPS, and we expect these metrics to continue their strong upward trajectory,” the blog post reads.

Google says it has and will continue to add additional features that make the conversion to HTTPS more attractive for website owners currently running on HTTP. For example, HTTPS websites browsed on Google Chrome can access features like Smart Lock, which helps internet visitors save passwords to Google from Chrome or Android. Other features like service workers for offline support and web push notifications are “too powerful to be used over non-secure HTTP.”

Some of the challenges associated with migrating a website to HTTPS includes the disruption it can cause to normal online operations, temporary degradation of search engine rankings, it can be difficult to integrate certain advertising platforms.

Google — being fully aware of the potential difficulties spurred by HTTPS incompatible advertising platforms, especially for organizations that are funded via ad sales — made a point of noting that all of the digital ads that come from Google conform to HTTPS standards.

“As migrating to HTTPS becomes even easier, we’ll continue working towards a web that’s secure by default,” write Adrienne Porter Felt and Emily Schechter of Google’s Chrome Security Team.

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