Launched last week, Google Base is the search company's foray into free classified listings and other user-generated content. Anyone can use the service to classify and post all kinds of information, from business services and used cars for sale to recipes and photos.
Google Base allows adult content but should filter most of it if visitors use the company's SafeSearch feature , which blocks pornographic material from appearing in search results. That wasn't the case earlier this week, however, due to a technical glitch that allowed porn to leak into Google Base search results.
"Yesterday evening, we became aware of a problem with the Google Base SafeSearch feature and we acted quickly to resolve the issue," Google spokesman Nate Tyler said via an e-mail on Wednesday. He said the filter feature was broken for "some period of time," but declined to further specify.
Todd Ripley, a real estate investor in Asheville, N.C., noticed the problem on Tuesday morning after he uploaded photos of his 2-year-old daughter Jasmine onto his Google Base page. He planned to direct his family to the page but decided against it after a search for "Jasmine" turned up some unsavory results despite the use of the SafeSearch filter.
With the filter turned off, the amount of adult content on Google Base was staggering considering Google only launched the tool a week ago. A News.com search on the terms "XXX" and "XXX webcam" turned up more than 14,000 results each, including numerous listings under "XXX teen webcam."
A search for porn on Wednesday turned up far fewer results than on Tuesday. Google's spokesman was unaware of whether the company had removed any listings, but said adult content makes up a small part of the information on Google Base.
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