StopBadware - can it be disabled or circumvented?

Does anyone know if it is possible to disable or remove the StopBadware.org functionality that Google have introduced?

Whilst useful (I suppose) to users who do not have any protection against the threats it purports to stop, for those who do have protection in place it can be painfully annoying as it prevents access to site that it believes or used to be compromised and which now (according to LinkScanner) or not. I believe that the issue is due to the fact the LinkScanner is realtime whilst StopBadware is based on information that may be out of date.

If I cannot find a way to circumvent this @*&% I will most probably stop using Google. Is that what they really want?

Edit:
In fact, thinking about it, I am annoyed at what amounts to censorship...what right do they have to do this? I know that they claim that "You can choose to continue to the site at your own risk." but so far I have found no way to get past the warning (or in my case blocking web page) that one is sent to. Grrrrrrrrrr!

 

I sometimes get that with a site, but after a few tries get into it.
There used to be the option of going ahead and entering a site but I don't see that now.
I just keep going back and trying again!

Or try a different search engine, there's loads out there.

 

It provides a link for you to copy and paste. It's no big problem.

I'd say the unwary being saved from the malicious intent of the sites is well worth the loss of a few users that consider the inconvenience to be censorship.
The ability is still there; it just takes a deliberate action to reach the site. It's not censorship.

 

IMHO you miss the point. Of the sites that I have been prevented from getting into NONE where in fact malicious or dangerous according to LinkScanner (which I trust far more than this inferior functionality). The sites may have been dubious or dangerious in the past, but it would appear the information that StopBadware is using to rate the site now (and prevent easy access to) is old and incorrect.

If you are not prepared to keep current in terms of what a site does/does not do then you should not impede people from accessing it. The impeding is tantamount to censorship IMHO. They should make it easier for the user to do what they want. I am all for warning people but not for impeding them.

 

Hi all,

I work for StopBadware, and I'd like to try to clear up some misunderstandings about our role in the malware warnings Google provides to its search users.

It's actually Google, not StopBadware, that is responsible for placing the warnings. Google independently checks the web for badware and badware-linking code, and places warnings in its own search results.

StopBadware comes in simply to help site owners who want to remove the warnings in learning about badware, cleaning up their sites, and getting the warnings removed, as part of our larger mission to help educate internet users about badware and how to protect themselves.

Google independently identifies sites that host or distribute badware, and places warning pages based on their own internal identification.

Many sites that are the subject of Google's warnings have been the victims of a malicious hacking attack, in which code linking directly to badware through exploits was inserted onto an otherwise innocent, but poorly secured, website. If you are confused about why a site has a Google warning, then there are strong odds that the site is one of these hacking victims. Another common reason for otherwise innocent sites to be flagged by Google is if badware is being distributed through third party provided content such as ads provided by an ad network.

As Empath said above, if you'd like to continue to a site that Google has flagged, at your own risk, all you need to do is copy the URL and paste it into your browser's URL bar. You can also type the URL directly into the bar. Please note that in placing its warnings, Google hasn't modified the website in any way - Google has only modified its own search results. The flagged website is still available on the internet at its own URL.

For more information about Google's warnings, and StopBadware's role in helping internet users and website owners learn about badware, please see our FAQ.

thanks!
Erica
StopBadware staff

 

Erica, thanks for the clarification.

As I stated in my personal rile it is Goggle that I am unhappy with and not StopBadware.org. Of course, the workaround of copying the URL and pasting it into your browser's URL bar, or typing the URL directly into the bar, are just that and they slow down the browsing experience especially as I use LinkScanner Pro which provides me with a lot of protection in this area to start with...so much so that I do not needs Google ill conceived attempt.

Dare I say it but you can decide whether yo wish to have pornographic sites filtered out of searches OR not...turned on by default but ultimately the user decides. I just wonder why they have chosen not to give the user the same control of malware warning?