Google intends to remove URLs on the web for the good of all

Chrome, the web browser of the American technology giant Google, has implemented several improvements since its inception, some more innovative than others.

Just a few months ago, Google felt that traditional web addresses or URLs should disappear for the sake of the internet and it seems that the American company has already made its first in the realization of this project.

In a discussion last Tuesday at the Enigma Bay Area Safety Conference, Chrome's security executive, Emily stark, released some news about the progress already made by Google developers to rethink the concept of "URLs" on the web.

Stark He explains that it is not Google's intention to remove the URLs, but rather to make them more robust. 

Basically Google has in mind designing URLs that clearly convey the identity of the site to prevent users from falling prey to malicious people.

The researchers are not advocating a change in the web infrastructure, but rather they want to rework the way browsers render the website you are viewing, so you don't have to deal with longer and longer URLs. unintelligible, and the fraud that has sprung up around them.

Google is already working on internal tests

Stark reports that the Chrome team is already working on two projects to clarify to users the identity of the sites they visit.

The first project is an open source tool called TrickURI , who helps developers verify that their software displays URLs accurately and consistently. 

The second project is the establishment of an alert system which will alert users when the URL looks suspicious.

Emily Stark says that, for the moment, the second project is still being tested internallyBecause the current challenge facing the folks at Google is being able to develop methods to automatically differentiate malicious sites from legitimate sites.

"The whole space is really challenging because URLs work really well for certain people and use cases right now, and a lot of people love them."

"We are excited about the progress we have made with our new open source URL viewing tool TrickURI and our new exploratory warnings on trusted URLs." says Stark.

For safer and healthier navigation

So far, the safe browsing offered by Chrome is the first line of defense against phishing and other online scams for its users.

But Emily Stark and her team of investigators They are thinking about how to add to this safe browsing, plugins that specifically focus on flagging chunks. 

This will show users the URL elements relevant to their online safety and decision making, while filtering in one way or another all the additional components that make the URLs difficult to read.

Previously The Chrome team has already solved a number of Internet security problems, one of which is that it had used Google's weight to drive universal adoption of HTTPS web encryption. 

Now pretend that the same approach could be used for this new project they have with the URLs, but some fear that the process of displaying the identity of the website is only good for Chrome and not really for the rest of the web.
However, Emily Stark says that they are satisfied with the progress that has been made so far and it is clear that Google will not stop there as they see that this will be something extremely positive.

"What we're really talking about is changing the way the identity of the site is presented," said Star.

There remains only the question of whether all of Google's enhancements will be beneficial to the entire web community and whether they will truly ensure web security.