According to FoxNews.com, “Google tweaked its search algorithm overnight, making it much harder to stumble upon pornographic images.”
The winner in the Google moves seems to be ICM owner and operator of the .XXX TLD and the owner and operator of the porn search engine Search.XXX.
Search.XXX went live in late September, and after just the first week totaled over 1.4 million visitors and 8 Million page views
Foxnews.com quotes Stuart Lawley CEO of the ICM Registry as saying:
“Google has made a good decision, one that reinforces the purpose and usefulness of the work we’ve been doing to build a destination for adult consumers who are looking for high quality content,”
“The Internet is changing into a more targeted community where people can more easily find what they are looking for — including for the porn-searching consumer.”
“Lawley said Google’s actions continued a trend his company has already noticed, Other large search engines have already made or are likely to make similar moves.
“The effective de-ranking of adult content in an attempt to prevent inadvertent exposure to adult content is a trend we have seen in recent months by the major search engines. New top-level domains such as .xxx are only making it easier for consumers to find exactly what they want but at the same time making it easy for those wishing to avoid content.”
“To us it’s all about giving the consumer what they want and expect without surprises,.
For its part a Google representative told Fox it isn’t opposed to pornography, however “If you’re looking for adult content, you can find it without having to change the default setting — you just may need to be more explicit in your query”
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