Microsoft's New Bing.com Search Criticized for Adult Content

InternetSafety.com, a company that specializes in web filtering, criticized Microsoft’s new Bing.com search engine today for its lax filtering of pornographic content, claiming it provides access to a “cornucopia of pornography” in its search results.

Bing.com is the replacement for search engine Live.com, which had a 9.9% market share in May.

Internet Safety’s biggest gripe is that with the Bing’s video search feature, videos can be previewed by simply rolling your mouse over them. According to the company, this makes pornography very difficult to track down and block.

Aaron Kenny, CTO of Internet Safety, had these enlightening words to say:

Parents who are manually monitoring their children’s internet use should be aware that Bing.com is a potential new portal to adult content. With a few quick clicks, Bing.com can turn from just another search engine to a place where their child can view hours of hardcore pornography, all without ever leaving the website.

Another complaint is that when sexually explicit videos are searched, a message appears telling the user that the content can be viewed by turning safe search off. Apparently this might entice children to turn the filters off and view Paris Hilton in full glory.

InternetSafety.com has some legitimate complaints, but they’re missing a key fact: no one uses or will use Bing. Kids, who are usually more tech-savvy than their parents, will be the first to tell you Google is the best search engine and the last seen using some other search site.

Maybe Microsoft is trying to make adult content more accessible on purpose in order to gain market share. If that’s true, maybe they’ve paid a visit to Tony Soprano’s Bada Bing at one time or another.

Photo: Flickr