Google Gets in a Trusted Stores Encryption Tangle

A conflict between Google's push to make the Web more secure and its Trusted Store program may be costing at least one business money.

Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies, which encrypts all the pages on its website, has had its application for Google's Trusted Stores program turned down, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Think of the badge as the equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal. Having it could boost a site's revenue.

Pegasus co-owner Christopher Heitman applied for a Trusted Stores badge in 2012 but was turned down because all his site's pages were encrypted.

Google reportedly told him that the Trusted Stores program is not compatible with HTTPS when the protocol is used for non-sensitive pages such as a site's home page or product listings.

The Trusted Stores program requires applicants to encrypt only pages that contain sensitive information, such as home addresses and credit card numbers.

Heitman applied again this month and once again was turned down.

The Trusted Stores badge "is designed to be suppressed and not show up on secure pages," Google reportedly told Heitman in an email. "However, per the program guidelines, it is required that the badge must be displayed on all pages of your site."

The Google policy "is as clear and easy to understand as a bowl of spaghetti," Jeff Kagan, a technology industry analyst, told the E-Commerce Times.

Google recently announced that it would, in effect, give encrypted Web pages more weight in its search algorithms, resulting in higher rankings.

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Google Gets in a Trusted Stores Encryption Tangle