> Isn't it odd that Google would sign their own domains? After all, https is about ensuring your sites's authenticity to your visitor via a trusted third-party

> Isn't it odd that Google would sign their own domains? After all, https is about ensuring your sites's authenticity to your visitor via a trusted third-party certificate. Why does it have to be a third party? My understanding is that as a user you just need to trust the certificate and it's owner, and as long as the trust is there it shouldn't matter what that certificate is signing.