Google offers encrypted search with 'https' site

Google has launched an encrypted version of its web site which it said will offer users more control over their online activities. The 'https' URL has not yet gone live in the UK, but is expected to do so shortly.

Evan Roseman, a software engineer at Google, said in a blog post that https://www.google.com will let web users surf in a "secure channel".

Google Apps and Gmail users already have an SSL connection to access their pages, and this is now being rolled out to general users.

Google has also unveiled a new logo with a padlock image to differentiate the secure version of the site.

"When you search on https://www.google.com, an encrypted connection is created between your browser and Google," said Roseman.

"This secured channel helps protect your search terms and your search results pages from being intercepted by a third party on your network."

The service is in beta while Google adds SSL to services like Image Search and Maps, and Roseman warned that it will be slower than the normal way of searching.

"What won't change is that you will still get the same great search results, " he added.

Other caveats include the fact that Google will still record user search data "to improve your search quality and to provide better service", and clicking on any links that take you outside the results page will take you out of the encrypted zone unless that site also uses SSL.