Why exactly are we criticizing Bing for porn previews?
Yes, Bing's video preview thumbnails display watchable porn. When you search for it. And you have the adult filter turned off. Big blogs, internet personalities like Loic LeMeur, and even Fox News were all over this. Yes, the same Fox News that just proclaimed Apple and Firefox two of the top three search engines.
Wait, why is this a problem?
Bing, like other search engines, tries its best to index content on the Internet. Want in on a little secret? The Internet is full of porn. Full. Think about the fullest thing you can imagine, then fill thirty seven of it. That's how much porn there is on the 'net. Heck, last week (thanks to a 4chan raid) there was even a flood of raunchy videos on YouTube.
You can turn off safe search on Google and the image results will get pretty racy - downright terrifying in some cases. Same with Yahoo - and turning off the filter is WAY easier there. Heck, search Twitter and see what people like Cytherea are tweeting (If you don't know who she is, don't look her up. She's a porn star.).
If you're upset because your children might figure out how to shut Bing's content filter off and wind up staring down row upon row of lewd video thumbnails, there's a simple way to prevent that. Just surf with your kids, and know what they're up to. Getting upset with Microsoft, Google, or any other search provider isn't going to solve anything.
Truth be told, your kids (and you, for that matter) are just as likely to encounter porn by downloading movies or music using file sharing programs like Limewire or Bearshare. If you've never used one of those programs, give it a shot. Search for a popular song. I'm willing to bet that you'll find at least one dirty video in the results.
Yet another reason to not be outraged about porn on search engines: there are plenty of things on the Internet that are really far more objectionable. Hate speech, instructions on how to manufacture drugs and explosive devices, you name it, it's out there - even synchronized Voldo dancing.
It's silly to point fingers at a search engine about something like this. I haven't seen Fox single out any gas stations for having naughty magazines on sale in plain sight, have you?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jonathan said 11:12AM on 6-04-2009
cant...stop watching...they're so....hypnotic
CURSE YOU DOWNLOAD SQUAD! =P
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kingabraham3 said 1:27PM on 6-04-2009
i agree with you, but the fact of the matter is, its a dumb move on Microsoft's part because there WILL be a huge number of parents who will steer their kids away from Bing.
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Sanskrit said 1:34PM on 6-04-2009
You're assuming that parents are that involved and/or technologically inclined. I'm betting in quite a few cases those parents are the ones asking their kids how the "do the Google" or a subject or two.
live.search said 4:49PM on 6-05-2009
As the article pointed out, the SafeSearch filter allows those who would like to exclude adult content to do so. The bing decision engine isn't an less parent friendly than other search engines.
Learn more about why Microsoft built the Smart Motion preview, and what it can do to benefit your browsing experience, check out this article: http://www.bing.com/community/blogs/search/archive/2009/06/04/smart-motion-preview-and-safesearch.aspx
Cheers,
Nate
A member of the bing outreach team.
sitruc said 12:01PM on 6-04-2009
I enjoyed porn previews when Bing was Live. This is non-news.
Oh... and her name is Cytherea and she has an amazing ability to squeeze a performance out of herself.
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sitruc said 12:05PM on 6-04-2009
ask has video previews as well.
sitruc said 12:07PM on 6-04-2009
Cytherea was originally spelled Cytheria in the article, wasn't it?
Jreg said 12:05PM on 6-04-2009
Hear, hear!
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Kaushik said 12:16PM on 6-04-2009
No one is criticizing... everyone is enjoying.
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Nirmal said 1:05PM on 6-04-2009
This is one excellent article on Bing, cant really understand why ppl are behind MSFT on every new product they launch. I guess even Google video shows porn.
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fvineis said 1:22PM on 6-04-2009
well one result of all of this is now our sonic wall has blocked bing.com and all its sub sites i.e. bing.com/travel
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sitruc said 4:18PM on 6-04-2009
Amazing.
Mavromatis said 1:27PM on 6-04-2009
The search Cytherea may return sexually explicit content.
To get results, change your search terms.
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BoBoTheChimp said 2:09PM on 6-04-2009
I'd rather watch and read FOX news than the Communist News Network or any of the other obama-worshiping outlets ;)
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lee.mathews said 2:07PM on 6-04-2009
And why not? Fox news is the third biggest television, after Sony and Kitchenaid.
Dan said 2:25PM on 6-04-2009
I guess the only criticism that I'd come up with is that www.bing.com is being blocked by our firewall at work for containing adult/pornographic images. Not the links themselves, but the whole website made the block list on our SonicWALL gateway.
I don't quite get as to why that's the case, because Google does the same thing, excepting that they have a "moderate safe search" filter which is on be default. But it's easy to turn off and see the thumbnail porno images should you want to.
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sitruc said 4:17PM on 6-04-2009
That's very unfortunate, sad and telling. It's one thing when sites are blocked at work, but they are taking things too far.
Hel said 2:32PM on 6-04-2009
"The Internet is full of porn. Full. Think about the fullest thing you can imagine, then fill thirty seven of it."
Please NEVER MAKE ME DO THAT after mentioning internet porn. Never do it again. EVER.
Now, off to inject Draino into my ears to try to wash out all the bad mental pictures.
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archer said 3:08PM on 6-04-2009
these internets, and the world in general, are awash in all manner of crap, that is no reason to not object to its being promoted and facilitated.
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Scuba Steve said 4:33PM on 6-04-2009
well what did people expect everyone knows the internet was invented as a place for Chuck Norris to store his porn collection.
The internet is for porn, the internet is for porn, why you think da net was born, porn porn porn.
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