Microsoft takes action over Bing porn problems

Microsoft has revised its Bing search engine to make it easier for parents to block content unsuitable for children. It follows complaints that the site allowed users to view hardcore pornography clips without leaving Bing.

Upon Bing’s launch, curious users were quick to note that, after switching off the Safe Search setting (a simple move for users of all age), the video search tool would return results of sexually explicit clips for relevant search terms in thumbnail form.

That’s not unusual in itself. What is different is that Bing allows users to play the clips it finds  without having to leave Bing and visit the relevant video site. That threw some parental control software as in some cases it was unaware the child was seeing content from mature sites which would normally have been blocked. There were also problems for some corporate set-ups which had similar filtering set-ups.

To fix these problems, Microsoft has now announced that sexually explicit videos displayed through Bing’s video search sites will be routed through a separate domain, namely explicit.bing.net. Parents can set their software to block this domain completely, thus preventing children from accessing the content.

Microsoft hasn’t explained exactly how it will decide what constitutes explicit content, but it appears it is erring on the side of caution: it says the site will be used for “potentially explicit images and video content.” That likely means some “innocent” content will be blocked, but the type of people who use content filters will likely consider that a price worth paying.

The firm is also tweaking the Web sites displayed by Bing. When users select an image or video from the results, the address will change to include a reference to the address of the original source of the content. This means filtering systems which block a user visiting a particular site will also be able to block users accessing its content via Bing.

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