Error messages

Error messages

Some searches will give a 403 Forbidden error with the text

We're sorry...

 … but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

 We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

 We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google.

sometimes followed by a CAPTCHA prompt.

The screen was first reported in 2005, and was a response to the heavy use of Google by search engine optimization companies to check on ranks of sites they were optimizing. Google says the message is triggered only by high volumes of requests from a single IP address, however the use of the "allintext" operator a few times in a period of minutes has the same effect. Google apparently uses the Google cookie as part of its determination of refusing service.

In June 2009, after the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson, this message appeared to many internet users who were searching Google for news stories related to the singer, and was assumed by Google to be a DDoS attack, although many queries were submitted by legitimate searchers.

January 2009 malware bug

Google flags search results with the message "This site may harm your computer" if the site is known to install malicious software in the background or otherwise surreptitiously. Google does this to protect users against visiting sites that could harm their computers. For approximately 40 minutes on January 31, 2009, all search results were mistakenly classified as malware and could therefore not be clicked; instead a warning message was displayed and the user was required to enter the requested URL manually. The bug was caused by human error. The URL of "/" (which expands to all URLs) was mistakenly added to the malware patterns file.

Google Doodles

On certain occasions, the logo on Google's webpage will change to a special version, known as a "Google Doodle". This is a picture, drawing, or animation that includes the logo. It is usually done for a special event or day although not all of them are well known. Clicking on the Doodle links to a string of Google search results about the topic. The first was a reference to the Burning Man Festival in 1998, and others have been produced for the birthdays of notable people like Albert Einstein, historical events like the interlocking Lego block's 50th anniversary and holidays like Valentine's Day.Some Google Doodles have interactivity beyond a simple search, such as the famous "Google Pacman" version that appeared on May 21, 2010.

Google Caffeine

In August 2009, Google announced the rollout of a new search architecture, codenamed "Caffeine". The new architecture was designed to return results faster and to better deal with rapidly updated information from services including Facebook and Twitter. Google developers noted that most users would notice little immediate change, but invited developers to test the new search in its sandbox. Differences noted for their impact upon search engine optimization included heavier keyword weighting and the importance of the domain's age. The move was interpreted in some quarters as a response to Microsoft's recent release of an upgraded version of its own search service, renamed Bing. Google announced completion of Caffeine on June 8, 2010, claiming 50% fresher results due to continuous updating of its index. With Caffeine, Google moved its back-end indexing system away from MapReduce and onto BigTable, the company's distributed database platform. Caffeine is also based on Colossus, or GFS2, an overhaul of the GFS distributed file system.

Conversational search (OK GOOGLE)

During the Google I/O conference in May 2013, Google's Amit Singhal presented on the future of search, explaining that a search engine's three primary functions will need to evolve and that search will need to answer, converse, and anticipate. As part of his keynote talk, Singhal stated, "A computer you can talk to? And it will answer everything you ask it? Little did I know, I would grow up to become the person responsible for building my dream for the entire world." Conversational search technology was then featured and Singhal introduced the term "hot-wording" to describe search without the need for an interface, whereby the user simply prompts the Google search engine by stating, "OK Google." The I/O audience was then shown a demonstration in which a user asked a question and the search engine answered back in "conversation," in addition to the presentation of results for the query.

The conversational search function was incorporated into the latest version of the Chrome browser during the week beginning May 20, 2013. The "OK Google" search prompt was not included into the upgrade and users are required to click on a microphone icon that appears on the right-hand side of the search box. Google displays its answer to the user's question in the form of "cards" at the top of the search results while the information is conveyed verbally—according to one search engine writer, Google continues to work through the feature's bugs.

Hummingbird update

The "Hummingbird" update was announced as part of Google's 15-year anniversary and a Guardian technology journalist described it as "the biggest change to the inner workings of the world's most popular search engine since Google's "Caffeine" update in 2010." The update was progressively introduced over the month prior to the announcement and will benefit more modern forms of search, whereby users ask Google a question rather than entering keywords into the search box.

Knowledge Graph

The Google Knowledge Graph is a system that Google launched in May 2012 that understands facts about people, places and things and how these entities are all connected. Google’s Knowledge Graph is used both behind-the-scenes to help Google improve its search relevancy and also to present Knowledge Graph boxes, at times, within its search results that provide direct answers.

Privacy

Searches made by search engines, including Google, leave traces. This raises concerns about privacy. In principle, if details of a user's searches are found, those with access to the information—principally state agencies responsible for law enforcement and similar matters—can make deductions about the user's activities. This has been used for the detection and prosecution of lawbreakers; for example a murderer was found and convicted after searching for terms such as "tips with killing with a baseball bat".

A search may leave traces both on a computer used to make the search, and in records kept by the search provider. When using a search engine through a browser program on a computer, search terms and other information may be stored on the computer by default, unless the browser is set not to do this, or they are erased. Saved terms may be discovered on forensic analysis of the computer. An Internet Service Provider (ISP) or search engine provider (e.g., Google) may store records which relate search terms to an IP address and a time. Whether such logs are kept, and access to them by law enforcement agencies, is subject to legislation in different jurisdictions and working practices; the law may mandate, prohibit, or say nothing about logging of various types of information. Some search engines, located in jurisdictions where it is not illegal, make a feature of not storing user search information.

Encrypted search

Various search engines provide encrypted Web search facilities. In May 2010 Google rolled out SSL-encrypted web search. The encrypted search can be accessed at encrypted.google.com However, the web search is encrypted via Transport Layer Security (TLS) by default today, thus every search request should be automatically encrypted if TLS is supported by the web browser.

FTC fines

In 2012 the US Federal Trade Commission fined Google US$22.5 million for violating their agreement not to violate the privacy of users of the Apple Safari (web browser).[83] The FTC was also continuing to investigate if Google's favoring of their own services in their search results violated antitrust regulations.