safesearch

Google tweaks image search to make porn harder to find

Search for porn using Google Image Search today and you might not find much.

The company rolled out a change to its image search algorithm overnight that makes it tougher to stumble across adult pictures, whether or not you're searching for them.

Here's how a Google representative explains the change:

"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 … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1105: The New Testament of Torrents

I'm very pleased that LegalTorrents.com has come along to prove that I'm not crazy when I say there are plenty of legal reasons to use torrents. And they even have a torrent of Bible 2.0. Probably with new commandments from the MPAA. We also chat about AMD and Intel making nice, and how long that might last. And Microsoft tries to patent sudo. Yes, they said, "Sudo grant me a patent," I'm sure.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1105

AMD and … Read more

Podcast: Google's Scott Rubin on SafeSearch lock

Google has long made it possible for parents to restrict kids to "SafeSearch," but until now it was extremely easy to turn that off. With SafeSearch lock, Google makes it harder but far from impossible for kids to get around the restrictions. Google's Scott Rubin explains the new SafeSearch locks to Larry Magid.

Length: 9:33

Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | RSS (audio)

Google lets parents lock in SafeSearch

Google has long allowed parents a SafeSearch filtering setting that keeps kids from using the search engine to find inappropriate sites like those with explicit sexual images or text.

The problem was that kids could easily change those settings.

Starting Wednesday, however, the company is allowing parents to lock those settings to make it harder (though not impossible) for kids to bypass the settings.

To change the settings, the parent will have to log into his or her Google account and enter a password. Once the settings have been changed, the Google search engine will change in appearance to indicate … Read more