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My thoughts, exactly. Why would they use more resources and slow down page load for users who couldn't care less?

Because most users don't know enough to make an informed decision, and SSL is the conservative choice?

They made Gmail default to HTTPS, and the same argument could apply for both.

Emails are rather more sensitive than search terms though.

Strong disagree.

So search terms regularly contain highly sensitive things like password reset verifications for your online banking?

No, they simply regularly contain highly sensitive things. Not password reset verifications.