Monday, Jun 15, 2009    Text size: 

Explicit.Bing.net will offer searchable content, but it’s primary design goal is for parents and tech managers to filter content.

Microsoft has been under intense scrutiny after critics likened the search engine's Smart Motion Preview feature to a virtual porn theater. Smart Motion lets users view clips of content by holding the cursor over search results.

Since its rollout, Bing has relied on surfers to employ SafeSearch to configure against potentially offensive material.

With Explicit.Bing.net, Microsoft's new approach should make it easier for tech managers to ensure that porn isn’t found on workplace computers via Bing because it can be blocked at the server level.

"Potentially explicit images and video content will now be coming from a separate, single domain," said Mike Nichols, Bing’s general manager in a blog post.

"This is invisible to the end customer, but allows for filtering of that content by domain name, which makes it much easier for customers at all levels to block this content regardless of what the SafeSearch settings might be," he said.