Ever used a wifi hotspot? If you have a notebook, laptop or smart phone then at some time you have probably signed onto a public wifi hotspot so that you can browse the internet while imbibing that over-priced coffee in the local boutique café. Have you ever needed to search the internet for a private topic, which you didn't want other people using the same wifi hotspot to potentially see? If you were a Google user, this situation presented a problem as searches were not conducted in a secure fashion.
This problem could be coming to an end, as Google have launched a beta of a secure SSL homepage at https://www.google.com (note the extra 's.') SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a system where the connection between the users computer and the website is encrypted. This means that any intermediary parties could not intercept and read the web traffic.
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Security Limitations
SSL isn't a complete security solution though, it does have it limits. One example would be that although your connection to Google search would by secure, if you clicked on a link in those search results that isn't secured, (the website address starts with http rather than https) then your web browsing will no longer be secure.
In addition, if your computer has become infected by a virus or other malicious software, then it is still possible for others to see what you typed into the secured web page. So even with a website using SSL you still need to follow best practises for computer security (keep your operating system & software updated, use anti-virus / anti-malware software, etc.)
Pressure
It seems that Google had been under pressure from civil liberties groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation for a while. In fact their blog has a post from June 2009 welcoming the (then) newly introduced SSL connection for GMail, but bemoaning the lack of security for search. Recent posts to the EFF blog welcome Google SSL introduction but point out that this does not stop Google from logging search requests.
More information can be found on the Google Online Security Blog. Matt Cutts blog also has a post about SSL introduction. Finally you can read the original post from the Electronic Frontier Foundation from June 2009 and the recent post on Google's SSL introduction.
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