In 2010 Google introduced a new optional search mode for people browsing the web. It used SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) connection that encrypted submitted information and protected it from third parties trying to intercept users’ data.
At the time Google Encrypted Search launched the SSL encryption was predominantly used by banks and e-commerce websites to protect customers’ data such as passwords, usernames, personal information, etc.
Google shut down the Encrypted Search page on April 30, 2018, since it was no longer used or needed. There hadn’t been much point in having the separate page ever since Google integrated the SSL protocols into the main Google site back in October 2011.
The company had long understood the importance of providing customers with a safe environment for browsing the internet and accessing sites and web tools. Google even had added the SSL encryption to tools such as Gmail and Google Docs years before doing the same with the search engine.
As Google pointed out in their blog post announcing the new tool back in 2010, many internet users appreciate extra protection when searching online. More and more websites acknowledged that and switched to a safer HTTPS connection, and Google addressed that new need on the market.
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