--- description: Tweaking Google's search algorithm could lead to a push for more and better encrypted sites across the web title: Google Hints it May Begin Favoring Encrypted Sites in Searches image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Google Hints It May Begin Favoring Encrypted Sites in Searches by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 15, 2014 5:40 AM CUT by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 15, 2014 5:40 AM CUT Google [is considering](http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/04/14/google-may-push-sites-to-use-encryption/?mod=e2tw "undefined") giving a boost to encrypted sites in its search-engine results, one of its top engineers [has hinted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvdi6iluHFQ "undefined"). Matt Cutts, an engineer in charge of liaising with website designers and minimizing spam in search, said that by doing so Google would make it harder for third parties to spy on Internet users. He was speaking at the SMX West conference in San Jose, Ca., Rewarding sites for adopting encryption “would be a huge step,” said [search expert Danny Sullivan](http://http://searchengineland.com/author/danny-sullivan "undefined"), editor of Search Engine Land. Cutts said encouraging encryption was important, because once sites had been hacked “We don’t have the time to maybe hold your hand and walk you through and show you exactly where it happened.” His comments come in the wake of the discovery of the Heartbleed bug, a vulnerability in the popular OpenSSL encryption scheme that has caused widespread concern among the web community. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/62885/google-search-encrypted-websites/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/62885/google-search-encrypted-websites/"},"headline":"Google Hints It May Begin Favoring Encrypted Sites in Searches","datePublished":"2014-04-15T05:40:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:58.126Z","description":"The search giant is considering giving a boost to encrypted sites in its results, one of its top engineers has hinted. The move is to encourage better security across the web in the wake of the Heartbleed bug causing widespread concern among Netizens","url":"https://time.com/62885/google-search-encrypted-websites/","keywords":["Tech","Google","Security","Web","Encryption"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Per Liljas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/per-liljas/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/62885/google-search-encrypted-websites/","name":"Google Hints It May Begin Favoring Encrypted Sites in Searches"}}]}] ```