Bing live, Microsoft warns over sex searches

Company explains safesearch functionality

1 June 2009 11:08 GMT / By Duncan Geere

As promised, Bing is now live in the UK, and you can go and try it by typing bing.com into your browser. However, before you spend too much time on the site, you might want to be sure that safe search is on.

Microsoft has issued instructions via Twitter on how to turn on content filtering functionality for the search engine. Although it's on by default, anyone can turn it off with two clicks and no age verification.

Once you've done that, a simple search for "sex" will get you watching bonking in no time at all on Bing's auto-play function, without even leaving the site. The 'feature' was pointed out by blogger Loic Le Meur, who tweeted about it on 1 June, and Microsoft responded fast - just one hour later.

Porn aside, what do you think of Bing? Have you switched from Google? How do the results and usability features compare? Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below.

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Comments

  • You know you can do that with google to right?? It takes two clicks with google to have safe search off. Why iis this a big deal for bing and not for google or even yahoo where u can turn off safe search in two clicks. Posted by Jerry, USA
  • Failure. You can do this in any other search engine as well. Posted by X, US
  • OMG you can find porn with a search engine? Posted by Andrew, USA
  • woooow, amazing, porn, right in the browser, an innovative invention from bing! Posted by Zoinks, Norway
  • Porn on the internet? This is an outrage! Posted by SFLegend, UK
  • On most search engines, you have to actually visit the site to view porn. That's not the case with Bing, which will stream it for you while still on Microsoft's pages. Posted by radioedit, United Kingdom
  • While I agree that this being blown out of proportion, it is also strikes me as huge blind spot on Microsoft's part. It was predictable.

    As radioedit points out, Bing does provide a crude sort of privacy not available in other search engines--you can view video without accessing the actual video site. So any URL-based monitoring or access control mechanisms are useless. Whether that is a good or a bad thing depends on your point of view.
    Posted by kiholau, us
  • Bing looks exactly the same as Google search wise and home screen wise. I checked out maps the other day and frankly the function is shocking. The estate I live on which has been here for over 3 years still appears as an old army depot, which was actually demolished 4+ years ago.

    I'll be staying with Google for the time being I think
    Posted by Rob Picken, England

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