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The web today is a vastly different identify from the Internet I beginning explored courtesy of AOL and Netscape Navigator back in 1997. I thing that hasn't changed in two decades, still, is the utilize of false download buttons. Now that Google's Safe Browsing Team is taking a stand against the practice, we might finally see some progress on the consequence.

This is a significant expansion of Google's rubber browsing initiative, which previously warned users nigh site certificate expiration or malware detection, but didn't try to monitor websites for social engineering attacks or misleading links. The company's blog post states that the goal is to protect users from "deceptive embedded content, like social engineering ads."

Websites that testify popular-unders claiming your system is out of appointment, that yous need to install a specific plugin to watch video, or that scatter "Download" buttons all over a page when simply one button really leads to the software in question are all potential targets of the new algorithm.

Google says it volition primarily target ii kinds of advertisement content. Specifically, ads that:

  • Pretend to deed, or look and feel, like a trusted entity — like your own device or browser, or the website itself.
  • Try to trick you into doing something yous'd only practise for a trusted entity — like sharing a password or calling tech support.

DownloadButtons

Ads like this volition land you hot water and perhaps trigger warning pages.

A change similar this has been a long time coming. Playing "Find the download link" might accept been an interesting game of skill when the Web was new, and I'll admit, I might have prided myself on an ability to ferret out the real links from fake ones once upon a fourth dimension. That time was 20 years ago, nevertheless — these days, I adopt an Cyberspace that works, not one that tries to trick me into clicking on application installers that have nothing to do with the software I'm looking for.

It's never been articulate how much revenue these types of links generate in the first place, but they definitely create unhappy users and general discontent. SourceForge saw its identify in the OSS customs largely usurped past organizations like Github due to user discontent with the site'south advertisement and bundling practices. The sooner the web moves away from this kind of social engineering science, the ameliorate and safer using it volition be.