This new feature now allows webmasters to track and review the certificate that visitors requested while visiting your site.
Track Certificates (Preview) — which was built in collaboration with Microsoft OSG Enterprise Security (see their post here) — allows you to track and review certificates that were requested by browsers visiting your site right from within Bing Webmaster Tools. What’s more, Track Certificate not only shows you the certificates we encountered, you can also directly report certificates to Microsoft if they look fraudulent or suspicious. All reported certificates will be reviewed and appropriate action will be taken by Microsoft, including involving the issuing Certificate Authority, or informing other browser manufacturers about the certificate.
It is worth noting that Google does not have anything comparable in Google Webmaster Tools. So having this feature in Bing not only gets a one-up on Google, but it also gives webmasters a really good reason to sign up for Bing Webmaster Tools, if they haven’t already done so.
While Bing Webmaster Tools offers a lot of the same things that Google does, many SEOs to regularly check in on it as it does help when they are trying to deep dive into Google penalties, as there is often data that is unique to either Bing or Google.
If your site uses HTTPS, or you are in the process of transitioning over, it is definitely worth keeping an eye on this feature, see you can be aware of any problems that might arise related to certificate issues.
This new tool is considered to be “in preview” because a lot of their allies on data collected through Windows 10. While it’s only available right now to those in the Windows Insider Program, the Track Certificates data will become much more valuable as more people start using Windows 10 when it goes into wider release.
Jennifer Slegg
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