Google Chrome 76 was released at the end of July, and this version included a strange “modern” feature: hiding HTTPS and WWW in website URL addresses.
With Chrome 79, the browser removed the option to view WWW and HTTPS by default in URL addresses. Although it has been disabled by default since Chrome 76, there was an option to enable it by going to flag #omnibox-ui-hide-steady-state-url-trivial-subdomains. This option was hidden in Chrome 78, but can be activated again by going to: //flags/#temporary-unexpire-flags-m76
Finally, in Chrome 79, to avoid the user activating this option, the only way to see WWW is by double-clicking on the URL address. Google continues its battle against WWW, claiming it is completely unnecessary to access web pages, and its presence is trivial.
However, there are many cases where this could lead to confusion for users, as visiting “www.example.com” is not the same as “example.com.” This could lead to phishing attacks where users believe they are visiting a legitimate website, but are actually visiting a fake version.
This allows Google to impose its view of the network through its browser. Google has a great ability to make decisions about what happens on the internet. If they decide to add or remove something, websites or other browsers will need to update themselves. This is one of the reasons Microsoft stopped using EdgeHTML as the engine for its browser and switched to Chromium, as they were unable to keep up with the changes introduced by Google on its platforms like YouTube.
Fortunately, some of these decisions from Google have been positive, such as forcing a large portion of websites to become HTTPS, which has harmed those that are only HTTP in search results. Google wants the foundation of the web to be that all websites are HTTPS encrypted and that WWW is invisible.
With Chrome 79, the browser removed the option to view WWW and HTTPS by default in URL addresses. Although it has been disabled by default since Chrome 76, there was an option to enable it by going to flag #omnibox-ui-hide-steady-state-url-trivial-subdomains. This option was hidden in Chrome 78, but can be activated again by going to: //flags/#temporary-unexpire-flags-m76
Finally, in Chrome 79, to avoid the user activating this option, the only way to see WWW is by double-clicking on the URL address. Google continues its battle against WWW, claiming it is completely unnecessary to access web pages, and its presence is trivial.
However, there are many cases where this could lead to confusion for users, as visiting “www.example.com” is not the same as “example.com.” This could lead to phishing attacks where users believe they are visiting a legitimate website, but are actually visiting a fake version.
This allows Google to impose its view of the network through its browser. Google has a great ability to make decisions about what happens on the internet. If they decide to add or remove something, websites or other browsers will need to update themselves. This is one of the reasons Microsoft stopped using EdgeHTML as the engine for its browser and switched to Chromium, as they were unable to keep up with the changes introduced by Google on its platforms like YouTube.
Fortunately, some of these decisions from Google have been positive, such as forcing a large portion of websites to become HTTPS, which has harmed those that are only HTTP in search results. Google wants the foundation of the web to be that all websites are HTTPS encrypted and that WWW is invisible.
