Microsoft: We haven't bought 'pornography'

Microsoft has responded swiftly to suggestions that its Bing search engine seems to throw up ads alongside the keyword "pornography".

In a post Thursday, I outlined some of the suspicions that surrounded the appearance of ads for Bing next to searches for fleshy entertainment.

A Microsoft representative declared in an e-mail: "Microsoft has not purchased the keyword 'pornography,' and this term has never been in our AdWords account."

This will serve as a considerable relief to many upstanding citizens.

I searched 'pornography' on Flickr and this picture is what I got.

(Credit: CC Kessiye/Flickr)

The company representative continued: "It is our policy on the Bing marketing team that we do not have any adult content as part of any of our keyword buys or other marketing campaigns."

However, Microsoft has vivid views about how this alleged relationship between "binging" and films featuring somewhat less talented actors naked might have come about.

"The keyword that seems to be triggering these results is 'free videos,'" the Microsoft representative explained. "We are following up with Google to understand why this ad is showing up in these types of queries."

That should be a very interesting conversation. One looks forward to reading a transcript.

[wbbabr]

You search for pornography, you get pornography. What's the big fuss?

[Pishkado]

You must have missed earlier posts. You search for pornography, you get it, but you also get a sponsored ad for Bing. Most sponsored ads show up because the sponsor paid for them to be displayed when one or more of the search terms is used. The question is: why, then, do Bing ads show up when the search term is "pornography?"

[pentest]

Because the only value of Bung is too allow perverts the ability to watch porn at work without getting busted.

[Jack K1]

I've searched for all kinds of porn on Bing and on Google - and Bing returns much higher quality results and in a much better format. Ahem.

I'm guessing that Google recognizes this and has given Bing a "freebie": want porn, use Bing.

[karpenterskids]

Wow...who deleted my comment on here?
Lameee.

Agreed Bing is the better search engine for Video especially, web results, travel, medical and images. Google is slightly better on news.

Overall I prefer to use Bing as it has a nicer interface and the web page previews make it easier to know what you are going to get.

[therealgeeves]

Microsoft should really lighten up. I'd say they have judging by such a strong reply...

[FellowConspirator]

It's simple, really, "bing" is like "bang," "boink," or "bonk." Not to mention that Microsoft's Bing search engine has garnered a reputation as being superior to Google in that it is much better in turning up pornography. Google's a prude to Bing's hussy.

[omnichad]

You're probably right. Google's Adwords system has some intelligence using keyword synonyms and things that relate together. Just an unfortunate product name.

[solitare_pax]

Budda-Bing, badda-boom.

You hit it on the head!

But it could be worse - they could have called it "Advanced Information Detector System" or "AIDS" for short.

[biffhenerson]

Someone looks at the adds?

[tektaktyks]

...especially while hunting for porn...

[system001]

"The keyword that seems to be triggering these results is 'free videos,'" the Microsoft representative explained. "We are following up with Google to understand why this ad is showing up in these types of queries."

if microsour didn't want this to happen then why have "free videos" as one of their keywords. come on they had to know you type in free video(s) what you would get. looks to me like microsour is trying to genrate "free advertising" with this.

boys and girls can we say binged......................

[Seaspray0]

microsour? You're french, right?

[dnheller]

Like Tony Soprano, we might indulge our prurient interests at the 'Bing

[screamapillar]

Seaspray - i'm not sure what your comment is meant to mean here. It isn't relevant to the post nor the article. I'm not sure why a nick-name for a company (that has so many: M$, Microstuffed, Moneysoft, microsuck, microsaur - these are just 3 that don't have bad language) is a big deal or why it suddenly implies a poster's nationality... I personally found the term system used clever and amusing as it could be interpretted as either denoting draconian and/or of bad taste (which many would argue microsoft is both)

System001 - I agree. It is a case of 'is this result reasonably foreseable?' and the answer is a very big yes. Thus any reasonable person would then intuit that result and perhaps even plan for it - ergo your suggestion about this being a free advertising attempt could well have been planned from the beginning!

[Shinespark]

When I read "However, Microsoft has vivid views about how this alleged relationship..." Vivid Entertainment immediately came to mind. How fitting.

[screamapillar]

hehe - I'm sure they'll have vivid discussions while vividly analysisng the very vivid search results... ;)