Yes, Google are at it again. They have offered the carrot but are now threatening you with the stick.
One of a number of Internet related companies, Google is part of the consortium offering free website encryption via `Let’s encrypt’. Encryption of your website means that you have obtained an SSL certificate from a recognised authority and have converted your website from http to https. This means that all data between your website and a viewer browsing your site is encrypted instead of being transmitted as [vulnerable] plain text under the http protocol. It means that a padlock icon will appear in your browser denoting that it is secure and that you can safely enter email addresses, passwords and make online payments on your website.
That`s the carrot.
The stick is that, with the issue of the latest version of their Chrome browser, Google now identify that your site is not secure with the little i icon at the beginning of the url field if your site only uses the http protocol.
Future plans are that the security status of your website will affect your ranking in Google`s SERPs, while they have written that they may explicitly comment on the security of your site in their search engine results – a bit of stick and a bit of carrot
WordPress websites will always be reviewed critically because you have to log into your website to manage it.
So, get in touch with your designer, your hosting provider or your ISP and arrange for your website to be upgraded from http to https, whether it is a WordPress site or not.