Subscribe Via Web Feed Subscribe with Google Add to My Yahoo! Subscribe with Bloglines Add to netvibes Subscribe with Live.com

« Powerset Launches "Understanding Engine" For Wikipedia Content | Main | Cast Your Vote For Doodle 4 Google Contestants »

May. 12, 2008 at 8:20am Eastern by Barry Schwartz

Yahoo Labels Google As Malware? No, Yahoo URL Mix Up

Google Is A Malware Site (Says Yahoo) from TechCrunch reports a funny bug at Yahoo that accidentally made it look like Google's home page had Malware on it, based on the Yahoo SearchScan feature that was recently launched.

A search for Astalavista at Yahoo returned what appeared to be a Google.com result in the 10th position. But in reality, Yahoo somehow mixed up the astalavista.ms URL with a Google.com URL, and since astalavista.ms had signs of Malware on it, it appeared that Google.com had malware on it.

Here is a screen capture of what the search results originally looked like, when Yahoo labeled the astalavista.ms result and a google.com result:

Google-Dangerous-Downloads

But now, the same result is labeled correctly and looks like this:

Yahoo Labels Google as Malware

Amit Bhawani commented at TechCrunch, explaining that if you clicked through to the detailed warning, it showed the warning was for astalavista.ms and not for google.com.

It now appears that Yahoo fixed the issue with the search result showing google.com instead of astalavista.ms. Yahoo has been known to mix up the display URL in the search results in some cases, specifically in the past. But I have been hearing some recent noise in the search forums that there are more signs of these Yahoo issues.

Like The Story? Vote For It On Yahoo Buzz!
Subscribe To Our Daily Search News Recap!
Your Email:
Send me the monthly search newsletter too! (Learn more about our newsletters and feeds)
Subscribe To Our Search Feed!
Subscribe Via Web FeedSubscribe with GoogleAdd to My Yahoo!Subscribe with BloglinesAdd to netvibes
Subscribe with Live.comSubscribe in NewsGator OnlineSubscribe in RojoAdd to My AOL
Share & Bookmark This Story!
By Barry Schwartz Permalink Jump To Comments See Related Stories In: Legal: Security, Search Features: Safety, Yahoo: Search



Reader Comments

Search:

Search Marketing Expo

Save the date for:
SMX China (Nanjing) - Sept. 23-24
SMX Stockholm - Sept. 23-24: See who's speaking or register now.
SMX East (New York City) - Oct. 6-8: See the agenda or register today and save!
SMX London - Nov. 4-5: Pre-agenda rate now available. Click here.

Search Marketing Now

Learn more about search marketing through free online webcasts and webinars from our sister site Search Marketing Now.

Upcoming Webcasts:

Most Recent News Posts

About Search Engine Land

Stay Updated!

Get Our Search Newsletters:
Email:
Daily Monthly

Get Our Search Feed:
Subscribe Via Web FeedSubscribe with Google
Add to My Yahoo!Subscribe with Bloglines
Add to netvibesSubscribe with Live.com
Subscribe in NewsGator OnlineSubscribe in Rojo
Add to My AOL
More About Our Feeds & Newsletters

Add to Technorati Favorites

Track Us Socially:
Facebook: Our Search News App
Facebook: Search Engine Land Page
Facebook: Search Engine Land Group
Flickr: Search Engine Land
LinkedIn: Search Engine Land Group
Twitter: Search Engine Land Feed

Bragroll