Review successful for tane.harre.nz 

It was with some bemusement today I found that Google had flagged this site as having harmful content and deceptive pages but gave no URL's pointing towards the problem or any other information. Just a couple of vaguely worded sentences.

These pages attempt to trick users into doing something dangerous, such as installing unwanted software or revealing personal information. Learn more

It would be amusing if they weren't popping up a warning about the integrity of my website whenever someone visited it. So, what had I posted that attempted to trick people into doing something dangerous? Was it the July goodbye to Ozzy Osbourne that contained a link to youtube? The "A cautionary timeline of transgender ideology" from May, Montagris in March or perhaps the French Carrot Salad post from January.

Happily, we will never know because there wasn't anything there. Either Google suffered a glitch or someone complained maliciously and maybe that is the reason my site traffic has been dropping or maybe because I am not posting much. I have no idea because I don't really look at it that much. I suppose I have at some point in the last year?

Anyway, having requested a review of their error I received an answer on the same day so let it not be said that Google is tardy.

Security review reply

To: Owner of tane.harre.nz,

Google has received and processed your security review request. Google systems indicate that tane.harre.nz no longer contains links to harmful sites or downloads. The warnings visible to users are being removed from your site. This may take a few hours to happen.

Here are ways to keep your site safe in the future:

1. Secure your site from any future attacks
   
   Identify and fix vulnerabilities that caused your site to be compromised. Change passwords for administrative accounts. Consider contacting your hosting service for assistance.
2. Always follow the Unwanted Software Policy
   
   Make sure all downloadable files from your site comply with the criteria listed in the policy. Files that violate these criteria will be identified as unwanted software.
   
   Read policy

Hold on, what do they mean "...no longer contains links to harmful sites or downloads."? Nothing changed except a large search engine flagged my site as being dangerous and popped up warnings when there was no reason to.

What this is is best answered by Google's Gemini AI,

Libel is the publication of a false, defamatory statement in a permanent form, such as writing or broadcasting, that harms another person's reputation

. Unlike slander, which is temporary spoken defamation, libel includes written statements, pictures, and broadcasts, and does not require proof of damage for the claim to be actionable. A statement is libelous if it identifies the person and has a tendency to injure their reputation

But hey, too big to fail, too big to sue, and too big to libel.