Google Plans to Eliminate URLs for User Security

Over time, URLs have turned into long strings of incomprehensible characters, a fact that cybercriminals are happy to exploit. On September 4, 2018, Google’s Chrome browser celebrated its 10th anniversary. During this decade, Chrome has introduced a number of significant changes to the web, from popularizing automatic updates to aggressively promoting HTTPS. Now, the Chrome team is considering its most radical move yet—abandoning URLs altogether.

Why Google Wants to Replace URLs

URLs are the familiar website addresses we use every day. They spare users from dealing with complex routing protocols when accessing a site. However, as the web has evolved, reading and understanding the address in a browser’s address bar has become increasingly difficult. With the expansion of web functionality, URLs have either become unreadable, endlessly long strings filled with various components, or, conversely, shortened links made up of a few random characters.

On mobile devices, there’s often not enough space to display the full URL, which creates more opportunities for cybercriminals. They can spoof organizational websites, carry out phishing schemes, launch fraudulent services, and more—all because users can’t see the complete address of the site they’re visiting on their smartphones.

What’s Next for Chrome Users?

The Chrome team wants to change this situation and ensure that users know exactly which site they are visiting and whether it can be trusted, according to a report by Wired. However, at this stage, Google’s engineers are not ready to present any alternatives to URLs. They are currently studying how people use URLs in order to develop a worthy replacement. What this alternative will look like is still unknown, as Google is actively discussing the issue internally.