Google is now rewarding websites that run a secure connection.

Those sites using HTTPS—the Web prefix indicating an encrypted connection—will earn extra points in Google's search ranking algorithm.

This promise of a top spot among search results is the carrot dangling from a stick which the Web giant hopes will entice developers to adopt the super-secure network technology.

Google, which defaults to HTTPS in Search, Gmail, and Drive, upped the security ante in March by implementing an HTTPS-only connection for all email actions.

The encrypted network often garners complaints of slower service—an issue Google believes it has addressed to a point where it no longer makes sense to allow HTTP connections, a company spokeswoman said earlier this year.

"We've seen positive results, so we're starting to use HTTPS as a ranking signal," webmaster trends analysts Zineb Ait Bahajji and Gary Illyes wrote in a Wednesday blog entry.

For now, the change will affect fewer than 1 percent of global queries, and carry less weight than other signals, giving webmasters time to switch to the more secure service.

But over time, the company may decide to strengthen its practice, "because we'd like to encourage all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the Web," the blog said.

Webmasters and users can keep an eye out for Google's detailed best practices for making TLS adoption easier and avoiding common mistakes.

Those who have already enabled HTTPS can test their site's security level and configuration with the Qualys Lab tool.

"We hope to see more websites using HTTPS in the future. Let's all make the Web more secure," Bahajji and Illynes said.

As if an encrypted address weren't enough, Google recently launched a new Chrome add-on called End-to-End, which promises to keep user data safe from prying eyes. The service promises that data leaving your browser will remain encrypted until the intended recipient decodes it, and vice versa.