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For some weird reason the content accessed though our domains is returned via SSL HTTPS on all domains pointing to the server.

https://domain.com leads to our website, with a proper SSL certificate (so, no warning).

https://domain2.com, is also hosted on our server but without a SSL certificate This leads to a warning message and if accepted continues to the content of this domain.

The problem is that any search for our keywords in Google shows "fake websites" on top of ours and with the warning et al.

It seems unsolvable so we are thinking about turning SSL off. I'm just afraid of losing whatever indexing we have. How can I avoid that?

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If it's without the SSL certificate, should it not be domain2.com? –  Prasad Dec 16 '12 at 5:33
I think this needs to be explained a little more clearly before it's possible to give a useful answer. For example, have you looked at why the 2nd domain is forwarding to the first? By losing "indexing", do you mean content being de-indexed, or losing rank? –  GDav Dec 16 '12 at 10:29
second domain redirects to the first because the first is the only SSL domain hosted on this server. (that's what the sys admin told me at least). By losing "indexing", i meant losing rank. –  pixeline Dec 18 '12 at 18:02
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2 Answers

Here is an video by Matt Cutts discussing a similar subject about people going from HTTP to HTTPS I presume the same would hold true going the other way. But since the host and path name of the pages are not changing I don't expect you should lose rankings if you go down it'll most likely be Google re-indexing your pages.

Can switching to HTTPS harm ranking?


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It might have some impact on your rankings if the HTTPS page is indexed within Google.

You should be using rel canonical your pages on the HTTP so Google believes that HTTP is the master protocol.

A quick fix for this is to purchase another SSL Cert for the 2nd domain, they only cost around £10 for a year.

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