Dive Brief:

• Google’s own "Safe Browsing" program identified Google.com as a "partially dangerous" website, earlier this week. 

• The alert advised that Google.com had some pages that could install malware or attempt to steal your personal information. 

• But as of Wednesday morning, Google stopped rating itself as a hazard. Sites that have user-generated content can often be flagged as potential threats. 

Dive Insight:

Google has been pushing for other companies to improve their website security with Safe Browsing alerts and HTTPS.

The company’s main search engine conclusion: "Some pages on google.com contain deceptive content right now."

"Attackers on this site might try to trick you to download software or steal your information," the report said, and "some pages on this website redirect visitors to dangerous websites that install malware on visitors’ computers."

Earlier this month, Google announced it had upgraded Safe Browsing Alerts as part of an effort to help network administrators better protect their networks. Tools such as Safe Browsing Alerts can give network admins a heads-up to a potential security concern.

Google has been a vocal advocate of improved website security. Not only does Google prefer websites that use HTTPS, ranking them higher in search results, they also recently announced that their Chrome browser will eventually flag unencrypted websites and display a large red "x" over a padlock in the URL bar on sites that are potentially insecure. The fact that their own website was identified as potentially dangerous is therefore likely something they are looking to correct quickly.