Google Introduces new Repeat Offender Blacklist

On November 8th, 2016, Google introduced a new feature to Chrome that would blacklist repeat offenders.

Once Safe Browsing has designated a site as a Repeat Offender, the webmaster will be unable to request additional reviews via the Search Console. Repeat Offender status persists for 30 days, after which the webmaster will be able to request a review.

The feature was introduced to address an issue where they noticed a trend where websites would remove infections long enough to have warnings removed, only to return once removed. They go on to say that this won’t affect websites that have been hacked. In other words, it’s built to affect intentional misuse versus unintentional.

Please note that websites that are hacked will not be classified as Repeat Offenders; only sites that purposefully post harmful content will be subject to the policy.

I can’t help but ask myself – how are they going to differentiate between intentional and unintentional misuse?

While I agree that there are those that misuse the service, there are also those website owners (i.e., webmasters) that suffer reinfections and repeat blacklists. Only time will tell us how this will work, and it’ll be very interesting to see what happens as it gets rolled out.

The need to be proactive with your website security is growing, and it’s where companies like Sucuri come into play. If you’re concerned about what this might mean for you and or looking to be more proactive with your website security then I encourage you to check them out.

An interesting note regarding what it means if you get flagged as a Repeat Offender is that you could be looking at a 30 day period where it’ll be impossible to remove the warning. Think for a moment what a 30 day blacklist might mean to you and your business.

Once Safe Browsing has designated a site as a Repeat Offender, the webmaster will be unable to request additional reviews via the Search Console. Repeat Offender status persists for 30 days, after which the webmaster will be able to request a review.

To learn more about the various Google blacklists and warnings I encourage you to check out the Sucuri guide on how to get them removed.