MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google has changed the way its search engine filters explicit results in Image Search.
In an algorithm change designed to ensure adult content is shown only to those who explicitly request it, searching for simple phrases or names relative to porn now should return only nonexplicit results, Google said.
But if surfers make the query more specific, explicit results will appear.
A Google representative in a letter to CNET said, "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 if your search terms are potentially ambiguous."
"The Image Search settings now work the same way as in web searches," the rep said.
Google users in the U.S. and U.K. previously could select three levels of "SafeSearch" — strict, moderate or none.
But yesterday those options were consolidated into one that allows users to "filter explicit results."