Apparently one of the services associated with Google’s search is not working properly this morning. Google offers a blanket statement for all sites:
“This site may harm your computer”
It’s a great function. When particular sites are infected with an exploit or malicious sites are returned, this warning is perfectly apt. The problem this morning is that Google is labeling every single site as malicious. Here’s an example search for Wikipedia.
Searching for my own site… What libel! My site will not harm your computer!
Clicking on the link to go to Wikipedia takes you to this page. You have to copy+paste the URL into the address bar to proceed. Google is washing their hands of their referral and doesn’t want any part of it, largely defeating the purpose and usefulness of a search engine.
If you try and click on the link “This site may harm your computer.” it will take you to a 502 error page. Assumedly, the broken connection to this server is what is causing the problem in the first place.
Of course, Google itself is subject to this problem as well.
If you are looking something to block malicious sites, try using the Web of Trust add-on for Firefox.
Update: Google approves the Internet again and search returns to normal with the Google explanation.