At the end of June, the current year, we were announcing that Google's Safe Browsing API can improve online security. Thanks to this utility you are less likely to visit a malware spreading site because a warning is issued every time you try to access such a site. If the number of visitors to your site or blog has diminished lately, maybe it is because you made it onto Google's blacklist. SERPguard is a free tool that you can employ to find out. It will search the Safe Browsing Blacklist and give you a heads up.

"If our system detects any of your URLs on the Google phishing or malware blacklists, we will send you an RSS message and email immediately," says SERPguard.

Google maintains and continuously updates a database of infected and potentially harmful sites. Every time a user wants to visit such a web page, a warning text is displayed. Although Google itself has stated that the system is not foolproof, most users prefer to play it safe and not visit the site. If someone has managed to hack your site, then that hacker will most likely go to great lengths to pass undetected. Consequently you will not even be aware of the fact that your site is spreading malware.

There are several steps that you can take: first of all you can register with SERPguard and find out if your web page has been blacklisted. If it has not, this service will continue to monitor the Safe Browsing Blacklist and inform you if at any point Google considers your site harmful. If you do find yourself blacklisted, then you must find the security problem and solve it. When you are done, apply for a Google review and get out of the blacklist.

Sometimes the Google team will make a mistake and falsely accuse your site of being harmful. In this case you should check to make sure that you are indeed "clean", then report the mistake.

The thing is that with so many trusted sites getting infected nowadays, users are more than cautious in terms of IT security. They will most likely click away from a site that is believed to be infected, so it pays to be sure.