Sex Free - Search Engine - designed for kids

[Bob Lawrence]

You can use the link below to try a few common sex terms and see that it is blocked, then compare that to Google:
http://www.zoo.com/

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Infopspace News release:

InfoSpace, Inc. (NASDAQ: INSP), a provider of online search and directory services, today launched Zoo.com, a new search engine designed to help kids ages 8-13 search the Internet while steering clear of sexually explicit content. Behind its colorful safari-themed homepage, Zoo.com provides a best-of-breed Web filtering solution, including the restriction of more than 50,000 "adult" words and phrases, to help reduce the risk of exposure to inappropriate or harmful material when kids are searching the Web.

According to a new national survey conducted by InfoSpace(1), 49 percent of American kids ages 8-13 use the Internet as their #1 source of information when doing homework or writing reports for school. That's 20 percent more than use the library, and 30 percent more than use books or materials from home as their resource of choice. As kids become increasingly reliant on the Internet for homework and fun, their likelihood of encountering offensive material can often increase as well. Although a vast majority of parents say their child does not use the Internet without their supervision, their child often reports otherwise, with a majority saying they do use the Internet without parental supervision.

"For parents, the Internet has become one of the biggest concerns when it comes to protecting your child in today's world," said Jeannie Ralston, parenting writer, expert and mother of two young children. "Zoo.com is a no-brainer for parents -- it offers them peace of mind that their child can have a safe, fun experience when searching the Web, plus there is no software to download and it's free."

Zoo.com provides the most relevant search results from Google, Yahoo! and Wikipedia and news results from ABC News, Fox News and Yahoo! News using InfoSpace's metasearch technology. As a result, kids can experience the wealth of educational, informative and fun material available on the Internet and receive a broader set of results than is possible with a single search engine.

At the same time, parents can rest assured that Zoo.com is taking appropriate measures to protect their child from exposure to sexually explicit material thanks to Zoo.com's high filtering standard. Unlike other engines that allow users to set filtering from high to none, Zoo.com has developed and uses a strict keyword filtering system to help restrict and filter out sexually explicit content. In addition to restricting more than 50,000 "adult" words, Zoo.com works with its partners to provide multiple layers of category based filtering designed to further weed out sexually explicit content while retaining results that may be appropriate for children. For example, a child using the search term "breast cancer" will get plenty of information, but the word "breast" delivers no results.

"Kids today are extremely savvy when it comes to the Internet and are using the Web to search more than ever before," said Rod Diefendorf, vice president of local and online search for InfoSpace. "With Zoo.com, we're tapping our extensive history and expertise in Web search to deliver a relevant, broad, and fun search experience for kids, while offering the filtered results often requested by parents."