'Google Glitch' Makes Astroglide Customers' Info Public

VISTA, Calif. — The personal information of more than 250,000 Astroglide customers was made available online via Google searches, in what has been called a "Google glitch."

On April 12, a customer contacted Astroglide after searching her name using Google and finding information regarding her request to receive a free sample of personal lubricant.

Lynne Merrill, an Astroglide representative, told XBIZ the company discovered that the search engine giant had "aggressively indexed" — made note of and re-presented the information as a search result — a portion of Astroglide's sample requests made primarily between August 2003, and January 2004.

Information included customer names, email addresses and shipping information. No credit card or financial information was revealed.

Astroglide.com webmaster Matthew Eckmann told XBIZ that after adding new internal links to the company's archives, it is possible that Google's normal indexing procedure picked up on the site's new information. Eckmann said Astroglide.com's pages usually remain unchanged 85 percent of the time.

Eckmann said that Astroglide first changed the location of all files that could potentially be indexed and then changed the code in the site to prevent any future indexing. Merrill said that because there is no live Google support, Astroglide had to uncover and solve the problem itself, following Google protocol and a removal tool recently made available by the search engine.

As of today, Eckmann said the glitch has been fixed. All pages and caches of customer data have been removed and placed in a secure location on the Astroglide site. Measures have been taken to prevent further indexing of this information.

Astroglide.com's free-sample request has been temporarily deactivated.

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Strike 3 Holdings Sues Meta for Pirating Vixen Media Group Content to Train AI

Vixen Media Group owner Strike 3 Holdings filed suit in federal court this week, accusing Facebook parent company Meta of copyright infringement and alleging that Meta has extensively pirated VMG content to train its artificial intelligence models.

Pineapple Support, Streamate to Host 'Navigating Grief and Loss' Support Group

Pineapple Support and Streamate are hosting a free online support group to help performers cope with grief and loss.

Friday is Final AV Compliance Deadline in UK

Friday, July 25 marks U.K. media regulator Ofcom’s deadline for user-to-user services such as tube, cam and fan sites to implement its requisite “highly effective age assurance” measures for preventing minors from viewing adult content.

AEBN Publishes Popular Searches for May, June

AEBN has released the top search terms for the months of May and June from its straight and gay theaters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Ofcom Releases Transparency Reporting Guidelines

Ofcom, the U.K. media regulator, has made public its official guidance detailing how online service providers — including adult sites — will be required to publish annual transparency reports on their efforts to protect children from online harms.

New AV Rules Take Effect for Ireland-Based Sites

Ireland’s Online Safety Code came into force Monday, including a provision requiring adult sites headquartered in Ireland to implement age assurance measures beyond self-declaration.

XBIZ Amsterdam Calls on New Startups for 'Spotlight' Program

XBIZ is pleased to announce that its new “Startup Spotlight” programming will make its European premiere at XBIZ Amsterdam 2025, set to take place Sept. 2-5 at the Jakarta Hotel Amsterdam.

Texas Resumes AV Lawsuit Against Aylo Following SCOTUS Decision

A district court judge in Texas has unfrozen the state’s $1.6 million lawsuit against Aylo for allegedly failing to comply with age verification requirements, Bloomberg Law is reporting.

JuicyAds Wins Trademark Infringement Case Against Fraudulent Domain

JuicyAds has won its World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) case against a website using a similar domain to impersonate the company's site and defraud customers.

Anissa Kate, Jordan Starr Top AEBN for Q2 of 2025

AEBN has published its top-selling stars for the second quarter of 2025, with Anissa Kate landing atop the leaderboard for straight theaters and Jordan Starr heading up the gay rankings.

Show More