"These urls host malware or unwanted software downloads" on Search Console

Yesterday I logged into Search Console to find this message:

Harmful Downloads
These urls host malware or unwanted software downloads
Affected URLs: N/A

As a seller of downloadable software this was a bit disconcerting.

I simply requested a review, saying I don’t distribute malware, my code is codesigned etc and today I got the “all clear”.

However they did include more explanatory information. I’m a bit worried it might happen again, but here’s what they linked to:

Also:

The odd thing is they didn’t notify me of this, like they do for mobile usability and Core Web Vitals errors… I had to log in to see it.

So if you sell downloadable software, check Search Console!

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Yikes. Checked my search console, seems ok. For now. We are all at the mercy of the Google’s opaque and unaccountable algorithms.

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