Browse for porn at your own risk if you use Google starting 12-12-12

[40hz]

This just in: As of today Google no longer allows you to turn safe search off.





Checking settings confirms turning it off is no longer available as an option:






Here's Google's official statement about the change (emphasis added):

We are not censoring any adult content, and want to show users exactly what they are looking for — but we aim not to show sexually-explicit results unless a user is specifically searching for them. We use algorithms to select the most relevant results for a given query. If you’re looking for adult content, you can find it without having to change the default setting — you just may need to be more explicit in your query if your search terms are potentially ambiguous. The image search settings now work the same way as in web search.

I'm guessing this was done as a concession to the porn industry. People using Google for porn searches now have to go on record as specifically requesting "stuff" as opposed to being more general in their request and letting Google's fuzzy algorithms do the dirty work. Literally.

Possibly it will now be far easier for individuals to receive one of those blackmail "offer of legal settlement" letters from the porn industry's attorneys if their collection of images "for the discriminating and advanced connoisseur" gets a little too...um...swollen?

Oh well...

Some folks probably shouldn't be web cruising for that sort of thing quite so much anyway.

More about this change here.

[rgdot]

From said article

Bing...we can confirm that it works perfectly well for looking at all kinds of explicit images.

Whose job was it to confirm that? 

[MilesAhead]

From said article

Bing...we can confirm that it works perfectly well for looking at all kinds of explicit images.

Whose job was it to confirm that? 

-rgdot (December 12, 2012, 05:16 PM)

Insteada' Bing maybe they should call it Boing!! 

[Tinman57]

  I don't do porn, and I don't do GoOgle either, so it's a win-win for me!   

[40hz]

Insteada' Bing maybe they should call it Boing!!

-MilesAhead (December 12, 2012, 05:36 PM)

I was holding out for Bada-Bing!

[Deozaan]

Insteada' Bing maybe they should call it Boing!!

-MilesAhead (December 12, 2012, 05:36 PM)

I was holding out for Bada-Bing!

-40hz (December 12, 2012, 06:35 PM)

You gotta pay them money to get more Bang for your Buck.

[MilesAhead]

Insteada' Bing maybe they should call it Boing!!

-MilesAhead (December 12, 2012, 05:36 PM)

I was holding out for Bada-Bing!

-40hz (December 12, 2012, 06:35 PM)

Heh heh. I have no desire to sing Soprano.

[Edvard]

From time to time I like to test what sneaks through the OpenDNS filter; not for my own entertainment, mind you, I've got a teenage boy in the house, and I'm happily married... so sue me; just doing my job.  Anyways, not much does, and it's certainly smarter than ANY of the 'Parental Control' filters out there, with one exception... Google Image search.  So this news is actually of the good variety.
 
However, I just noticed something else strange going on; putting choice search terms into the image and video searches for Bing and Yahoo with SafeSearch off brings up nothing but a page full of 'broken image' links.
 
Not undesirable, but strange nonetheless...

[TaoPhoenix]

It's all becoming very political lately. They used to say the Adult industry drove innovation by adopting certain new tech first. Now we're all on a PG Disney crusade. I know, I'm not a parent, yeah yeah.

[Paul Keith]

It depends I think.

Porn is also built with hypocrisy. As they say, Sex sells. Just look at more disney girls being more jailbait then they post nude or act more like sluts for publicity than say a Marilyn Monroe.

I would go so far to say if you're searching for porn with Google Images, it's hotter now with safesearch on because they removed all the seo spam porn images. The rest can't be prevented. Cat's out of the box. Reading this thread for example made me browse for porn now just to see what the hubbub is all about when I wasn't planning to browse for porn.

Also I doubt the adult industry would care less for search engines now. Video-wise, it's been all about streaming. Image-wise, it's all about porn placement in shows, ads, etc. Culture-wise, I hear the top TV show now are Game of Thrones and American Horror Story Asylum. Two shows that can get away as being top produced porn shows.

Summary-wise, as an industry, we're now in the "It's culturally acceptable and popular to hold a 50 Shades of Grey book in public".

[Stoic Joker]

I would go so far to say if you're searching for porn with Google Images, it's hotter now with safesearch on because they removed all the seo spam porn images. The rest can't be prevented. Cat's out of the box. Reading this thread for example made me browse for porn now just to see what the hubbub is all about when I wasn't planning to browse for porn.

-Paul Keith (December 13, 2012, 01:40 AM)

(Okay, strictly in the interest of science...) Confirmed.

[f0dder]

Shame on you, google.

Also, safesearch isn't just porn, it's other "offensive" material as well.

[tomos]

Possibly it will now be far easier for individuals to receive one of those blackmail "offer of legal settlement" letters from the porn industry's attorneys if their collection of images "for the discriminating and advanced connoisseur" gets a little too...um...swollen?

-40hz (December 12, 2012, 04:46 PM)

what's that about? - you mean they offer you stuff and then blackmail (whatever) - or is it for people downloading (without paying) stuff that should be paid for?
Reminds me what goes on here with music - you downloaded xyz on 01.01.2012.
Pay 400 euros now, or be brought to court and have to sell all your organs to pay the bill+fine.

[TaoPhoenix]

"Everybody Luvs Google, Googole USA:

Or something

Just try Startpage Advanced with the filters off amd you'll do fine.

[4wd]

I'm guessing this is an IP based thing, doesn't seem to make any difference here:

Google AU - Safe Search can still be turned off:


Google.com - Filter explicit results is off by default - have to turn it on to have all the naughty images removed:


This was using both Dragon and Firefox.

[f0dder]

Google AU - Safe Search can still be turned off:

-4wd (December 13, 2012, 01:26 PM)

For now. Just like facebook, they roll out changes gradually.

[4wd]

Google AU - Safe Search can still be turned off:

-4wd (December 13, 2012, 01:26 PM)

For now. Just like facebook, they roll out changes gradually.

-f0dder (December 13, 2012, 01:55 PM)

That doesn't explain how it was disabled by default for the .com site for me - that kind of makes the loss of the Safe Search Off a non-event.

No cookies are kept between browser sessions.

EDIT: Never mind - I missed the term ambiguous in the original article.

[superboyac]

Sheesh, what the heck is happening??  Look at the events lately:
Dotcom saga
Mcafee saga
sopa copyright stuff
isp throttling (past two months, the big inter-isp agreement)
closed ecosystem galore, windows now also
samsung vs. apple
google porn safesearch
UK big brother internet
facebook privacy policies

[f0dder]

Sheesh, what the heck is happening??

-superboyac (December 13, 2012, 04:26 PM)

It's 2012. THE END OF THE WORLD MAN!

[Stoic Joker]

Sheesh, what the heck is happening??  Look at the events lately:

-superboyac (December 13, 2012, 04:26 PM)

Well, the world as we know - as was often said in the 70's - is going down the tubes.

[tomos]

seems obligatory:

[Stoic Joker]

I FREAKING LOVE THAT SONG!!!!!!

[tomos]

 


sounds good live too

[superboyac]

Sheesh, what the heck is happening??

-superboyac (December 13, 2012, 04:26 PM)

It's 2012. THE END OF THE WORLD MAN!

-f0dder (December 13, 2012, 04:27 PM)

Please...lol.
I gotta say, something has happened the last 2-4 years.  i don't know what, but it's all tied to this.  Feels like the golden age of information is ending and we're about to enter some kind backwards mode with all this for a while until everyone stops freaking out and starts thinking clearly.

[f0dder]

we're about to enter some kind backwards mode with all this for a while until everyone stops freaking out and starts thinking clearly.

-superboyac (December 13, 2012, 04:51 PM)

Rather, it's going to last until people really freak out and do something about the governments corporations.