Re: [Lynx-dev] TLS-"transport layer security" & LYNX

[Stefan Caunter]

> On Jul 24, 2018, at 04:14, David Woolley <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
>> On 24/07/18 01:31, Mouse wrote:
>> Actually, in my case, it's the fault of webservers that refuse to serve
>> anything over HTTP except a redirect to HTTPS.  I neither have nor want
>> HTTPS support.
> 
> They are just following an industry trend orchestrated by Google.  In 
> particular, having a non-HTTPS site will result in appearing a long way down 
> the Google search results.  Most sites are either their to sell something, or 
> to sell people to advertisers, so they want a good google ranking.
> 
> Even when the contents is the primary reason for the site, hosting costs have 
> to be paid, and that is often done by advertising.
> 
> It's difficult to get a good explanation for the policy, but my guess is that 
> is the number of people accessing from mobile devices using public hot spots.

possibly, but it is rather self serving as well 

forcing everyone to serve over https hid the referer in their search analytics 
product - this was formerly freely available for inspection 

it is not hidden from them of course, and they will happily sell you access to 
that data, for a high price 

there is much irony to be enjoyed as we realize that their data collection 
(which is ubiquitous unless you browse with lynx) occurs over “secure” 
protocols, essentially so it can be packaged up and sold as a premium feature 
in their products 

—stef

http://smashgods.ca