Sexy Search Engine BoodiGo Takes Steps to Prevent Spread of Child Pornography
You won't find child pornography here. (BoodiGo)
BoodiGo, the sexy search engine developed by ex-Googlers, was created so users could anonymously search the Internet for porn. But if there's one thing the BoodiGo team doesn't want you searching for, it's child pornography.
The company announced a partnership last week with the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP), an organization founded in 1996 that seeks to eliminate child pornography from the Internet. Under the partnership, the ASACP will provide BoodiGo with a variety of data — including common child porn search terms — that'll help BoodiGo block the results of those harmful searches.
Colin Rowntree, one of Boodigo's founders, explained the company's decision to partner with ASACP in a press release:
When it comes to something like child pornography sites, in our view a guiding credo like ‘Don’t be evil’ simply isn’t sufficient. We feel compelled to be proactive here, not just reactive by taking down links to child porn when they are reported to us, but to make an effort to keep images and sites like these from ever being found using our search engine in the first place. By screening out and redirecting searches based on the wealth of data that ASACP has compiled over the years, we’re also augmenting our ability to serve our primary purpose, which is to be a resource where adults can find legitimate adult entertainment, made by and for consenting adults.
Now, when a BoodiGo user enters one of the ASACP's flagged search terms, the search engine will only give results linked to the ASACP's website, Mr. Rowntree explained in an email to Betabeat. The links will hopefully show users how "to learn more about how to fight child pornography," he wrote.
The site won't, however, be reporting any users who search for child porn.
"As BoodiGo does not set any cookies, record IP addresses or track any information on our users in order to keep it secure and anonymous, that would not be possible as we literally do not have that information," Mr. Rowntree explained.
Since BoodiGo's September debut, Mr. Rowntree has been pleased with the site's traffic, noting that BoodiGo saw over 2 million unique visitors and 10 million search queries within the first 24 hours of launching.
"It would appear," he said, "that the concept of safe, secure and anonymous search for adult content has really struck a chord with surfers."
