MSN's New Search Is Safe For Work (Unfortunately)

A friend pointed out in an email that the new MSN has set up some pretty strict adult filters.

Even if you set your search to unfiltered, the content of the adult serps is, well, limp.

Try, just for fun, searching MSN for "sex stories" (screen cap below).



You'll notice that Microsoft.net is in 6th place for that search.

Interesting that Microsoft.net stays in 6th no matter what you set your adult filter preferences to when searching for "sex stories". Why? You'll have to ask Bill Gates.

But this SERP had just about the "raciest" sites in the adult term searches I attempted, however it has been fairly amusing to see the sites that managed to slip past the adult filters.

I see MS Search being flooded with Altavista 1999 style porn spam in the very near future. Average Joe will search for Mother Teresa, and the #1 site will have adult content, cloaked so that MSN won't detect it.

Of course, it is Microsoft's choice to block adult sites - but they are finding their way into the index anyhow, and somehow, that seems to reflect more poorly on MSN Search than if they simply made sure that porn stayed in porn serps, and not in searches for "Mother Teresa".