Parents beware: Bing previews video porn

Microsoft's new Bing search engine has a highly touted feature that some parents may find troublesome. Bing's video search tool has a preview mode that lets you view and listen to part of a video simply by hovering over it with your mouse. Trouble is, it works with porn as well as "family friendly" videos.

I tested this feature quickly and with great caution on board a Virgin America WiFi equipped flight, being careful to shield the screen from fellow passengers and crew.

When I searched for a word that was sure to bring up porn, I was first warned that it "may return explicit adult content" and told that "to view these videos, turn off safe search." One click later, safe search was off and I was looking a page of naughty thumbnails. And, as advertised, hovering the mouse over a thumbnail started the video and audio. Even when playing in a small thumbnail, it was unmistakably hard core porn.

Of course, kids don't need Bing to find and view porn. You can find it with Google and other search engines, and even though Google has a filtered search option, there's nothing to stop someone from turning that off. But Microsoft makes it a little too easy. If moderate or strict filtering is on and you search for a filtered term, the site simply instructs you to click a link to "change your SafeSearch setting." If you configure Google for "strict filtering," a user who searches for a filtered term on Google simply sees that the word or phrase "did not match any documents." Of course a kid can always go in and change Google's settings but they have to know how to do it and bother doing it. Microsoft makes it all too easy.

I don't know if Microsoft plans to do deal with this issue in any updates, but regardless of whether your kid uses Bing, Google, or Yahoo, or just knows the URLs of porn sites, the only ways to protect your kids from accessing porn is either to watch them, educate them, or filter them.

Watching them might work with very young children but it's not exactly practical for teens or even pre-teens. I recommend that kids under eight be supervised when using a device with Internet access. Education will work with many kids but not all. Parents certainly have the right to set rules and guidelines and impose consequences if their kids access forbidden sites. But, let's face it, hormones, curiosity, and just plain interest in things sexual can have a strong pull on kids, especially teenage boys. Besides, some younger kids could stumble on porn if they use any unfiltered search engine, even if they're just looking for innocuous terms like "Barbie."

Filtering programs (or the parental controls built into Vista and Mac OS X) will block most porn sites, but it's not yet entirely clear which ones will prevent Bing from previewing such sites. Safe Eyes filtering software "blocks all pornographic content on Bing and Google searches out of the box," according to a post on its company blog. From my perch in the sky, I wasn't able to check with other filtering companies, but I'm betting some will and some won't.

Coincidentally, I'm writing this post on the way to Washington, D.C. for the first meeting of the Commerce Department's NTIA Internet Safety Working Group, which I serve on. I have a feeling this will come up at Thursday's meeting. As one of my fellow working group members, Internet Keep Safe Coalition President Marsali Hancock, said by e-mail, "as new technologies release it is critical that industry and child health advocates explore the potential impact on young developing minds and quickly respond to health and safety concerns."

I'm going to keep on top of this issue with Microsoft and the filtering companies and will report back as this story unfolds.

[sean_001]

I agree msft should not show user there is a option to turn it off. but the kids may be smarter than we are.

[jedmmj11]

yes but unlike google, they have the same "must be 18 yrs old" warning as porn sites

[Goodbye Helicopter]

big deal. They're going to see it eventually. Own up to it. be a parent. communicate and have solid relationship with your kids and it will all be fine.

[Jay Jennings]

Maybe they're going to see it eventually, but that doesn't mean they're ready to see it right now. And there's a big difference between what parents had access to as they were growing up and what our kids have access to right now. Porn doesn't necessarily mean nudity or "normal" sex -- the spectrum is really broad, and most kids don't *need* to see most of that while they're growing up.

It's *very* hard to disallow any internet access in this age of "everything's connected" so when a company does something to help a parent be a parent, it's refreshing. And when the opposite happens and it's easier for kids to get into things they don't need right now, parents should know that, too.

[Thranx]

@Goodbye Helicopter - some people try to hold themselves to a higher standard. One where the world doesn't need to be full of naked people enjoying each other's company vigerously.

Bing is problematic for K-12 school filtering software. I was able to effectively block this by simply blocking the settings page at bing (http://www.bing.com/settings.aspx) Blocking that one page will disallow changing the filtering settings anywhere on the site. No, this doesn't prevent a search for something like Banana turning up meat instead of fruit, but it blocks those intentional searches... for now.

[BlackxxJapan]

Wow, I love how you're sensationalizing something that really is a non-issue. If a parent thinks their kid is apt to look up porn they should have a computer blocker installed for younger children or simply keep an eye out for their older ones.

Come on CNET.

[Pishkado]

Johns will find hookers, but Craigslist doesn't have to make it easy.

Crooks will rob banks, but banks still use safes and dye packs.

Lots of evil or at least undesirable things will happen at least some of the time, but reasonable precautions will make them less common. A precaution doesn't have to be 100 percent effective to be valuable. If we applied that criterion in other places, nobody would take any precautions against anything. Since a determined thief who wants your car can get it, why bother locking it at all? Yet most people who park in populated areas still lock their cars.

Boys who want porn will find it, too - but Bing doesn't have to make their search any easier than necessary. Models for more effective blocking exist. It should use them.

[lennie22]

This is the author's attempt at creating negative buzz for Bing....and quite shamelessly I might add.

the funny thing is that google moderate and off settings gives you the same results when you search "sex", however, Bing actually moderates the results between those settings.

to Larry Magid: I lost respect for you today.

[kojacked]

+1

Larry, who did you think you were fooling? This isn't a Bing (or Google) problem. This is a parental problem. If you keep with your line of thought the Internet should protect kids from porn as a whole as soon as they open the browser. Maybe we should have ISP provide the filtering. Maybe Dick Cheney can help?!?!

You owe readers an appology Larry.

[miamop]

+10

"Watching them might work with very young children but it's not exactly practical for teens or even pre-teens." Larry, are you out of topics to write? "Microsoft makes it all too easy"? Do you actually think simply hiding the SafeSearch will solve the teen issue? These kids are SMARTER than you, dude. I agree with kojacked. This is absolutely not Bing/Google problem. Kids can bypass and go straight to the sources. If you're a parent concerned about this, install Windows Live Family Safety (from the same company that built Bing) that locks the option down, along with blocking access to sites, etc.

[James7777777]

+1

I guess there was nothing bad to say about Bing so he had to stretch and make this stuff up. Makes me sad cnet published it.

[karpenterskids]

My first thoughts when coming into this article were "Oh, and how do YOU know that? PERV."

lol

I also think it's ironic that you were watching porn on "Virgin" America.

[Dalkorian]

Yeah, on a public airline flight even. Snakes on a plane? LOL.

I didn't just cross the line, did I? ;-)

[kradd]

So let me get this straight, you did a search for porn and you are now horrified that it found porn and the feature that upsets you the most is that now that you've received the porn you asked for it is easy to play the video? Grow up.

[zzibb]

Hmmmm. . .let's see, how easy is it for a kid to go into a store and buy cigarettes, alcohol, pornographic magazines, prescription drugs, etc.? Pretty hard because of laws and policies in place and adults unwilling to lose their job over selling kids this stuff.

So, how easy is it for a kid to get on the Internet and access hardcore porn? Hmmmm. . .seems both you and Larry made that very obvious point. It's unfortunate that you missed it.

I think "growing up" was an appropriate thing to say. Something kids need to do before ever being exposed to these things. . .and really, not ever at all.

For all the producers and consumers of porn, it's time they "grow up" and quit viewing life, women, sex, and human relations from a demented view.

WAY TO GO LARRY! OBVIOUSLY THE VERY OBVIOUS NEEDS TO BE POINTED OUT AND YOU'VE NOT ONLY DONE THAT BUT ARE WILLING TO ACTUALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

[donsms]

Grow up! my thoughts exactly kradd

[Len Bullard]

Parents Warning! Larry Magrid at CNet is teaching your children how to find and preview porn.

C'mon, Magrid. This article is a cheap shot. Google is the single easiest way to find this stuff simply by switching on images and turning off safe search. Kids are way beyond that. You're just ratcheting up the rage for eyeballs.

[miamop]

Exactly.

It took me exactly the same amount of clicks (three) in Google and Bing to turn off safe search. If Larry thinks MS makes it easier to do the job, I think that means Bing's UI is better.

[hawkeyeaz1]

Easier than adjusting the preferences (and when you are not logged in), simply appending "&safe=" and either off or on to the url toggles the mode for when it is needed/desired/etc. If it is not present, it is assumed to be on.
But, just as mentioned, the kid needs to know this, but it isn't that hard to figure out.

[hawkeyeaz1]

And for the record, while it is uncommon, there are legitimate reasons to turn safe search off.

[clsmithj]

How about don't let kids get on the internet, until they're 16.

[ABandy1]

Parents should control the living daylights out of thier kids sexual curiousity- that will make everything normal and prevent all perversions. Control and surpression is the way, like the catholic church (and damn near every other church for that matter) -sex is the devil. If you like sex, you are evil and will go to hell after your genitals are infected with horrible diseases brought on by your temptation and interest in 'desires of the flesh'.

[GunnerRai]

Headline did its job, it bought me here. You know what would sound more awesome: "Bing's video preview corrupts entire generation of young kids."
I know 15 year olds hosting websites, and you think bing's video preview is gonna make a difference?

Paranoid much?

[Rod_G]

Wow... wish I could have commented on this earlier, but I just found the post. I can't believe how ignorant some of you sound. I have four kids, and I don't appreciate having porn dished out to them 24/7. For all you "sex is cool and fun" promoters, I can't believe you feel porn represents a healthy, well-functioning relationship. I have no problems with sex, but I'm up to here with porn purveyors wallpapering the Internet with this stuff. I thank Larry Magid for giving parents the "heads up" on this issue. Every little bit of info helps in keeping the Internet generally useful for young people. Yes, kids looking for this stuff will find it, but research has shown that most kids are introduced to porn through an unintended click on the Internet. So don't give me this crap that all kids are searching for this. Some aren't, and they run into it anyway. As for filters, I use them like crazy in my home, along with parental supervision, but it still isn't perfect.

[zzibb]

Wholeheartedly agree. . .my hunch is most of the calloused commenters don't have young children they're concerned about or they themselves are consumers of porn.

[alis4122]

trafic