{"id":5870,"date":"2009-01-31T20:47:23","date_gmt":"2009-01-31T15:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=5870"},"modified":"2026-10-15T14:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T09:20:06","slug":"google-search-malware-warnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/","title":{"rendered":"This Site May Harm Your Computer: The 2009 Google Glitch and Fixes Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On 31 January 2009, every single Google search result was labelled &#8220;<strong>this site may harm your computer<\/strong>&#8220;, including Google&#8217;s own sites. This article covers what I saw that morning, why it happened, and what the warning means for searchers and site owners today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> The 2009 glitch was human error: a &#8220;\/&#8221; was added to Google&#8217;s list of harmful sites, and because &#8220;\/&#8221; matches every URL, all results were flagged for about 40 minutes. Today the label is real and specific. Google shows it when Safe Browsing finds malware or a hacked site, and owners fix it by cleaning the site and requesting a review in Search Console.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ad92c99942bb\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ad92c99942bb\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/#The_day_Google_flagged_the_whole_web\" >The day Google flagged the whole web<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/#Why_it_happened_a_single_%E2%80%9C%E2%80%9D\" >Why it happened: a single &#8220;\/&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/#What_%E2%80%9Cthis_site_may_harm_your_computer%E2%80%9D_means_in_2026\" >What &#8220;this site may harm your computer&#8221; means in 2026<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/#What_to_do_as_a_searcher\" >What to do as a searcher<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/#How_site_owners_remove_the_warning\" >How site owners remove the warning<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/#Why_did_Google_say_every_site_may_harm_your_computer_in_2009\" >Why did Google say every site may harm your computer in 2009?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/#Is_it_safe_to_visit_a_site_with_this_warning\" >Is it safe to visit a site with this warning?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/#How_long_does_it_take_to_remove_the_warning\" >How long does it take to remove the warning?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/01\/google-search-malware-warnings\/#Can_a_site_be_flagged_by_mistake\" >Can a site be flagged by mistake?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_day_Google_flagged_the_whole_web\"><\/span>The day Google flagged the whole web<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I first noticed it when I searched for Yahoo! and tried to open its front page. Google marked the result as harmful:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5875\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/yahoo-malware.gif\" alt=\"Yahoo search result marked this site may harm your computer in Google Search\" width=\"468\" height=\"168\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Then I realised it was affecting every website, and <strong>Google had even marked its own properties<\/strong> as malware. Clicking any result led to a warning page instead of the site, so Google Search was practically useless until the problem was fixed.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5871\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-malware.gif\" alt=\"Google search results with every site marked as harmful\" width=\"285\" height=\"305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-malware.gif 285w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-malware-280x300.gif 280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 285px) 100vw, 285px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The warning page told visitors to check Google&#8217;s Safe Browsing diagnostic page for the site or, if they owned it, to request a review through Google&#8217;s webmaster tools.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5872\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/malware-warning.gif\" alt=\"Google malware warning page shown after clicking a search result\" width=\"468\" height=\"309\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/malware-warning.gif 468w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/malware-warning-300x198.gif 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Within minutes, many other users were reporting the same thing on Twitter:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5882\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-warn1.gif\" border=\"1\" alt=\"Tweet reporting the Google malware warning on all sites\" width=\"444\" height=\"58\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-warn1.gif 444w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-warn1-300x39.gif 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 444px) 100vw, 444px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5890\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-warn2.gif\" alt=\"Another user tweet about Google flagging every site\" width=\"300\" height=\"92\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5888\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-warn3.gif\" border=\"1\" alt=\"Tweet about Google search results all showing malware warnings\" width=\"350\" height=\"143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-warn3.gif 350w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-warn3-300x122.gif 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_it_happened_a_single_%E2%80%9C%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Why it happened: a single &#8220;\/&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Google soon fixed the issue and published an <a href=\"https:\/\/googleblog.blogspot.com\/2009\/01\/this-site-may-harm-your-computer-on.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">official explanation<\/a>. The list of harmful URLs was maintained by humans, and an update that morning mistakenly included the value &#8220;\/&#8221;. Since &#8220;\/&#8221; expands to all URLs, every result got the warning. Google&#8217;s on-call team found the problem and reverted the file. For any one user, the problem lasted about 40 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>It remains one of the best examples of how a tiny configuration mistake can break a service used by millions of people.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_%E2%80%9Cthis_site_may_harm_your_computer%E2%80%9D_means_in_2026\"><\/span>What &#8220;this site may harm your computer&#8221; means in 2026<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The warning still exists, but now it appears only on sites Google actually considers dangerous. Google&#8217;s Search Console help lists labels such as &#8220;This site may harm your computer&#8221; and &#8220;This site may be hacked&#8221; in search results. In general:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>This site may harm your computer<\/strong> means Google has detected malware or harmful downloads on the site.<\/li>\n<li><strong>This site may be hacked<\/strong> means content has been placed on the site without the owner&#8217;s permission, often spam pages or links.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Browsers that use Google Safe Browsing, such as Chrome, can also show a full-page red warning before you open a flagged site.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_to_do_as_a_searcher\"><\/span>What to do as a searcher<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Take the warning seriously and don&#8217;t open the site, especially if it offers a download.<\/li>\n<li>Look for the same information on another trusted site.<\/li>\n<li>Check a site&#8217;s status with the <a href=\"https:\/\/transparencyreport.google.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Transparency Report<\/a> (Safe Browsing site status). Our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/06\/google-safe-browsing-diagnostic-page\/\">checking Google Safe Browsing status for any website<\/a> walks through it.<\/li>\n<li>Keep your browser and operating system updated so built-in protection stays current.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_site_owners_remove_the_warning\"><\/span>How site owners remove the warning<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If your own site shows the label, follow these steps:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Verify your site<\/strong> in <a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Search Console<\/a> and open the Security Issues report to see what Google found.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Clean the site.<\/strong> Remove injected code, spam pages and bad links, update your CMS, themes and plugins, and change all passwords. Our guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/11\/find-bad-malware-links\/\">finding malware links on your website<\/a> can help.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Close the hole<\/strong> the attacker used, so the site doesn&#8217;t get reinfected. See these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/essential-server-security-software\/\">server security steps for your VPS<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Request a review<\/strong> from the Security Issues report once the problem is truly fixed, and describe what you cleaned.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Google says malware reviews take a few days, while reviews for spam-hacked sites can take several weeks. If the Security Issues report shows nothing, the detection was automatic, and Google will notice the fix on its next crawl.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_did_Google_say_every_site_may_harm_your_computer_in_2009\"><\/span>Why did Google say every site may harm your computer in 2009?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A &#8220;\/&#8221; was mistakenly added to the list of harmful URLs. Because &#8220;\/&#8221; matches every URL, all search results were flagged until Google reverted the change, about 40 minutes for each user.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_it_safe_to_visit_a_site_with_this_warning\"><\/span>Is it safe to visit a site with this warning?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It&#8217;s best not to. Today the label appears only when Google has found malware or hacked content on that site.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_long_does_it_take_to_remove_the_warning\"><\/span>How long does it take to remove the warning?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>After you clean the site and request a review in Search Console, Google says malware reviews take a few days and spam-hack reviews can take several weeks.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_a_site_be_flagged_by_mistake\"><\/span>Can a site be flagged by mistake?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It can happen, as the 2009 incident showed. If you&#8217;re sure your site is clean, check the Security Issues report in Search Console and request a review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 31 January 2009, every single Google search result was labelled &#8220;this site may harm your computer&#8220;, including Google&#8217;s own&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-google","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67313,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5870\/revisions\/67313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}