We all adore Google because it makes it easy to locate anything online. Google has taken the place of many things, including dictionaries and user guides. Your search results might occasionally be fraudulent or malevolent, though. To search safely, follow these steps:

Keep an eye on the URL in Google.

Every result title has a URL in green underneath it. Regardless of what the title claims, clicking this link will send you there. Unfortunately, cybercriminals frequently link to their scam/malware sites while listing their website under a well-known and reliable title.

For instance, the URL might be www.baabpjhg.com, which is obviously not your bank, even though the title might match your bank’s name (example: Example Bank), which sounds authentic. When you are swiftly skimming through results, they may try to mislead you by including the genuine site’s URL in the link, such as www.baabpjhg.com/examplebank.com. This increases their chances of catching you. Your login information may be requested when you access the page, which may look precisely like the website for your bank. These details are then gathered for an attack. They have a chance to profit from even a little error that you could overlook.

Compare Google search results to paid advertisements.

Google does a superb job of putting the most legitimate and pertinent websites at the top of the list. But generally paid advertisements will display above them. These paid advertisements are frequently legal as well (you can simply check the URL to confirm), but occasionally hackers are able to promote their malicious site to the top and attract thousands of victims before being taken down.

Accept Google’s warnings about dangerous websites

Google occasionally detects issues with websites. The website may have recently been compromised, a security setting may have gone awry, or the site may have been reported to them as compromised. If this occurs, Google prevents you from continuing by displaying a warning that “this website may be hazardous” or “this site may harm your computer.” Stop right away and accept the fact that Google has found something that you don’t want in your home.

Activate safe search

By activating Google Safe Search, you can exclude explicit results. Although it isn’t specifically a cyber-security problem, it can nonetheless make using Google safer. Safe Search is frequently recommended as a technique to safeguard children who are online, but it also benefits adults who don’t want their search results to be cluttered with improper links, many of which lead to risky websites. By selecting Settings > Safe Search, you may turn Safe Search on or off.