Google Launched Encrypted Web Search

Google launched encrypted web search service on Friday and they are going to roll it out for all of their services eventually. If you want to avail this option , type "https://www.google.com" at their browser so that the words and phrases they search on, and the results that Google displays, will be protected from any unauthorized intrusion.The new beta service will be available worldwide in the next few days. Google is the first search engine that offered privacy protected feature. AOL, Yahoo or Microsoft do not. If you choose the secure option, it is going to provide the encryption only for Web searches and not for other types of searches, like Image Search and Maps etc.

The encryption protects only data that travels between an your browser and the Google search server. When people click on a search result, they go through the encrypted channel and are directed to another Web site. The encrypted connections to Google.com means that users in China and other regimes where Govt surveillance is in place will be able to conduct searches without governments knowing the detail about the search. The secure Web search option is going to slow down the initial connection between the computer and the Google server. Additionally, it also means that Google will have to use more processor power to handle SSL connection, which is the biggest reason most Web sites don't offer it as an option.


source : http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/google-launched-encrypted-web-search/