Google’s encrypted search engine, launched in May, has moved to a new Web address that isn’t as convenient as its original one but that gives organizations the option to block the site for their users without locking them out of other Google services.
Originally offered at google.com, the encrypted search engine has been relocated to encrypted.google.com, a move prompted primarily by the requirement of schools and universities to block encrypted search engines for their students.
Educational institutions often ban encrypted search engines because students can use them to bypass the Web content filters of their schools and universities.
However, blocking google.com also interferes with other encrypted Google products, like the hosted Apps communication and collaboration suite, which many educational institutions offer for their staff and students.
By moving the encrypted Web search engine to its new address, it’s now possible to block access to it without affecting other Google services, Google said on Friday.
“We are continuing to explore longer-term options such that we could return encrypted search to https://www.google.com without introducing issues with school content filters,” wrote Google Enterprise President Dave Girouard in an official blog post.
Google introduced the option to encrypt Web search sessions with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) technology for people who want to make sure network snoops don’t sniff the data they exchange with Google servers, such as queries entered and results received.