No, Google Has Not Permanently Enabled SafeSearch

Typing the wrong thing into Google Image Search with SafeSearch off is the modern era’s version of hitting “previous channel” on the cable remote over and over again to see the microsecond of the Spice Channel that comes through before the scrambler kicks in. And now, like that joy, Google is taking it away from the teenage boys of the world.

Granted, the problem was a bit ridiculous: Once your humble author had turned SafeSearch off, forgotten, and Googled “housewife”. That was a fun day at the office. But still, deciding that the Internet wants less nudity seems to be a losing idea. Alas…

“We are not censoring any adult content, and want to show users exactly what they are looking for — but we aim not to show sexually-explicit results unless a user is specifically searching for them. The image search settings now work the same way as in Web search.”

What’s hilarious, though, is watching certain corners of the Internet go ballistic that Google is making them work harder to find pictures of naked people. Amid our careful tests of Google’s image filter, we discovered much of the Internet believes SafeSearch is permanently enabled.

No, guys, you just suck at Googling. You’ll need to improve your search fu. Those of us who grew up with imprecise search engines aren’t… uh, we wouldn’t have any problem! But we don’t do that anymore!