From the Wall Street Journal Wednesday:
As of 12:48 a.m. EDT Thursday, September 25, 2003
Microsoft Corp. seems to think its customers have just one thing on their minds. When Web surfers type the word "sex" into the search field on its MSN Web site, they land on a page that refers them to another search site -- Nightsurf.com, a digest of pornographic Web sites that offers links to such choices as "Busty Beauties" and "Dirty Cheerleaders."
Other search engines take a wider view. Type in "sex" on Google Inc.'s site (www.google.com), for instance, and the site returns many nonpornographic listings, such as the "Safer Sex Page," HBO's "Sex and the City" and Delaware's sex-offender registry. Yahoo Inc. displays results like Sexuality.org and the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.
MSN says its approach actually is designed to protect consumers from pornographic content. Rather than accept pornographic ads directly, a MSN spokeswoman says the search engine funnels people interested in that topic to Nightsurf's site. "It allows for the elimination of adult content on MSN," she says. Both companies decline to discuss the terms of their relationship, though the MSN spokesman says, "it's not an advertising relationship, it's a content partnership."
And if you really want to learn about safe sex? Click on the link under the Nightsurf link that says "Go Back to MSN Search." The Web site displayed at the top of the results is "Sexploration" -- a Web site that promises to deliver "sex advice from MSNBC sexperts."
As of 12:48 a.m. EDT Thursday, September 25, 2003
Microsoft Corp. seems to think its customers have just one thing on their minds. When Web surfers type the word "sex" into the search field on its MSN Web site, they land on a page that refers them to another search site -- Nightsurf.com, a digest of pornographic Web sites that offers links to such choices as "Busty Beauties" and "Dirty Cheerleaders."
Other search engines take a wider view. Type in "sex" on Google Inc.'s site (www.google.com), for instance, and the site returns many nonpornographic listings, such as the "Safer Sex Page," HBO's "Sex and the City" and Delaware's sex-offender registry. Yahoo Inc. displays results like Sexuality.org and the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.
MSN says its approach actually is designed to protect consumers from pornographic content. Rather than accept pornographic ads directly, a MSN spokeswoman says the search engine funnels people interested in that topic to Nightsurf's site. "It allows for the elimination of adult content on MSN," she says. Both companies decline to discuss the terms of their relationship, though the MSN spokesman says, "it's not an advertising relationship, it's a content partnership."
And if you really want to learn about safe sex? Click on the link under the Nightsurf link that says "Go Back to MSN Search." The Web site displayed at the top of the results is "Sexploration" -- a Web site that promises to deliver "sex advice from MSNBC sexperts."
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