Safe Search

Google understands that its users may want to exclude adult-oriented images from their image search results. A feature known as SafeSearch is provided that uses advanced search algorithms to eliminate most of the adult content. Of course, as Google admits, no attempt at eliminating adult content is going to be completely effective. Google uses a combination of techniques to eliminate adult content in search results, whether searching the Web or searching the Internet for graphic images.

Caution 

Parents should be aware that SafeSearch is not a parental control feature. It has no password protection and is easily selected or deselected by people performing searches. It is a feature designed to eliminate adult content by choice.

Google uses the following mechanisms to prevent adult sexual content from ending up in your search results:

• Keyword filtering

• Phrase checking

• Open Directory category matching

• Direct input from Google users

Tip 

SafeSearch can filter both explicit images as well as explicit text.

Web sites that have deceptive practices, such as using commonly misspelled URLs (Web site addresses) are not allowed in the search results. Deceiving users and tricking them to come to your site expecting one thing but finding another, is a practice known as cloaking. Cloaking can be achieved by registering and using a deceptive domain name and also by using deceptive keywords so that search engines like Google’s register the site in their search engine. It is also possible to send one version of a Web page to a search engine, while sending a completely different version to the user who requests the page. If this happens to you, please report it to Google at http://www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html.

Setting SafeSearch

Setting the SafeSearch feature is simple. The SafeSearch options are located in the Advanced Search page of either the text or image search page. The text search allows you to turn SafeSearch on and off by selecting either the No Filtering or Filter using SafeSearch option.

SafeSearch has three selections when searching on images, as shown in Figure 4.5. Select one of the following three SafeSearch filtering levels:

• No filtering: This option allows you to search with no SafeSearch filters applied.

• Use Moderate Filtering: This option allows you to see Google search results with sexually explicit images eliminated from the results, while allowing results containing sexually explicit words or phrases to appear in the results.

• Use Strict Filtering: This option attempts to eliminate search results from Web pages that contain either sexually explicit images or sexually explicit words and phrases or both.

For example, a search on the word playboy without filtering returns images of a sexually explicit nature. Searching with Use Moderate Filtering selected removes images that contain complete nudity. Selecting Use Strict Filtering allows no images to appear from this example search.

Cross-Ref 

If you set SafeSearch levels in your Google Global Preferences you can always choose to override them. Learn more in Chapter 2.

A final word about SafeSearch

There is currently no perfect technology for removing unwanted material from search results. Google does its best to make its search engine Family Safe but makes no promises of perfection. Part of the problem faced by people using the SafeSearch feature is that many Web sites are incorrectly removed from the search results.

Sites removed from search results based on key words might relate to medical, health improvement, news reports or other site that may use a word in a non-sexually explicit manner, but still be filtered based on words or phrases.

The SafeSearch technology is largely based on text search. This type of search is also limited by which languages the search checks. Google text searches for offensive material in English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, or Portuguese, based on which language preference you select.