Google SafeSearch: what it is and how the filter works
It is the mean by which Google tries precisely to ensure risk-free browsing for its users. Over the years, SafeSearch has emerged as an indispensable tool for those who wish to maintain a safe and clean online browsing environment. However, this filter not only helps protect users by preventing access to explicit or inappropriate content, but can also become a significant concern for those who manage a website, because being filtered by SafeSearch could in fact limit the visibility and traffic of their pages. Here, then, it becomes crucial to have a good understanding of what SafeSearch is, how it works, how to turn it on and off, and what its implications are, so that you can have an informed and proactive approach in every situation.
What is Google’s SafeSearch
Google’s SafeSearch is a system of filters that act at the browser level to prevent users from viewing inappropriate content. The feature uses complex algorithms and machine learning techniques to analyze and classify billions of web pages, ensuring that the information displayed meets pre-established safety criteria; thus, it aims to make online searches safer by establishing a web environment that is more suitable for minors and anyone wishing to avoid accidental encounters with objectionable content.
First introduced in 2009, Google’s SafeSearch filters are the system by which users can change their browser settings to filter explicit content from being displayed in search results. This feature is critical to ensuring that particularly sensitive types of users-primarily children, but also students or adults within an organization-are not exposed to explicit materials when using Google’s search engine.
In practice, these automatic filters block the display of explicit content, including pornographic images and videos, scenes of violence, and other types of inappropriate or otherwise potentially offensive material. As of an August 2023 update, Google Search automatically marks and blurs such content for everyone as a default for users globally.
This tool is particularly useful for parents who want to protect their children from age-inappropriate content, but it is equally useful for anyone who wants to avoid running into unwanted content while browsing, whether during work hours or personal use. Moreover, it can be turned on or off at any time, giving users complete control over their browsing experience.
From an SEO perspective, SafeSearch can have an impact on traffic from Google’s organic search, because it can precisely lead to the exclusion of results that are judged to be precisely explicit, which are hidden for part of the users. In addition to standard organic results, in fact, the SafeSearch filter applies to Google image results, and then to videos, advertisements , and even entire Web sites, and thus is something to evaluate within a strategy especially for those sites that may appear borderline.
What Google’s SafeSearch filter is for.
The significance of SafeSearch is intrinsically related to security on the Web. Google introduced this filter to provide all users with a form of protection against explicit content, and its ability to automatically filter inappropriate content through advanced algorithms and machine learning makes it a powerful ally for parents, educators, network administrators, and knowledgeable users.
The implementation of this system is part of the search engine’s broader efforts to create a safer browsing environment, and since 2009 the SafeSearch filter has become a key tool for millions of users worldwide, representing an important step in the fight against the uncontrolled spread of inappropriate content on the Internet. Google has shown that it takes the protection of users, especially younger users, seriously and is willing to invest significant resources to ensure a safe browsing experience.
While it may serve several purposes, in fact, SafeSearch’s main goal is to protect users. This protection is crucial for parents and educators who wish to create a safe environment for younger users. Even in the corporate environment, implementing SafeSearch on work devices can help maintain professional standards by preventing employees from accessing inappropriate content during working hours. In addition, using SafeSearch is useful for anyone who wants to maintain a browsing experience free of unwanted surprises.
Who is affected by SafeSearch?
Many users prefer not to display explicit content in their search results, states Mountain View’s official document, which is characterized as a guide page for understanding how SafeSearch works and getting to the bottom of common problems.
In general, it is important to understand that SafeSearch activation not only affects end users, but also has implications for website owners.
While for users, SafeSearch is a valuable ally for safe browsing, for those running a website it can be a challenge, which is why it is critical to know how content is classified by Google. If a site contains material that could be filtered out or publishes resources that may appear explicit according to Google’s algorithms, in fact, the owner could see a significant impact on organic traffic, especially if the target audience includes groups that commonly use SafeSearch, such as families and educational institutions.
How SafeSearch works, the filter to explicit content in SERPs
From a practical standpoint, Google’s SafeSearch filters allow users to change their browser setting to help filter out explicit content and prevent it from being displayed in search results.
Specifically, SafeSearch is designed to filter out results that lead to visual representations of:
- Sexually explicit content of any kind, including pornographic content
- Nudity
- Photorealistic sex toys
- Escort services or sexual encounters
- Violence or bloodshed
- Links to pages with explicit content
The guide points out that SafeSearch is specifically designed to filter pages that post images or videos that contain breasts or naked genitalia, as well as block pages with links, popups or ads that show or point to explicit content.
SafeSearch works because of Google’s automated systems, which use machine learning and a variety of signals to identify explicit content, including words on the hosting web page and within links. Perhaps it goes without saying, but SafeSearch works only on Google search results, so it does not block explicit content we find on other search engines or on websites we visit directly.
It is therefore not a simple blacklist of banned websites, but a system powered by artificial intelligence that works in the background to continuously examine new and old web pages, determining their level of appropriateness. Through the use of machine learning techniques, Google is able to constantly improve the filter and detect new explicit or inappropriate content. This dynamic approach allows SafeSearch to stay up-to-date with the evolution of the web, even identifying content that might escape manual review.
SafeSearch and adult content
When SafeSearch is active, Google automatically excludes adult content from search results, focusing on images, videos, and explicit links. The goal is to minimize the possibility of this content being viewed accidentally. This is extremely important not only for children and teens, but also for anyone who wants to avoid potentially upsetting or disturbing content. SafeSearch is supported by user reports and ongoing reviews by the Google team, ensuring that the filter remains effective and current.
How to enable SafeSearch on Google: directions for users
Let’s focus first on the user-side implications.
Activating SafeSearch is a simple process that can be done from any device with an Internet browser. On desktop, simply go into Google’s search settings and enable the SafeSearch option. On mobile devices, the process is just as simple: go to the search engine settings and select the dedicated option. This tool also offers the ability to lock SafeSearch with a password, ensuring that the feature remains active and cannot be disabled by children or unauthorized users of the device.
SafeSearch settings can then be managed within the browser or in one’s Google Account. Basically, there are three possible “conditions” -Filter, Blur or Off-which intuitively refer to the active or inactive state of the feature.
Specifically, activating Filter allows you to block explicit content that is detected-this is the default setting when Google’s systems indicate that the user may be under 18 years old (or if a minor is logging in from their Google Account).
The Blur selection allows explicit images to be blurred, but may show explicit text and links if they are relevant to the search: this is the default setting worldwide, as mentioned above, and is the new standard of the Google Images experience. Basically, it obfuscates explicit images that eventually appear in search results even if the SafeSearch filter is not fully activated.
When SafeSearch is set to Off, the user will see relevant search results, even explicit ones.
Therefore, when the user sets and activates SafeSearch, Google will filter some (or all) pages of sites that contain precisely explicit content (including images, videos, and text) according to algorithmic evaluations.
In most cases, the activation of the filter is a free manual choice, which can later be changed by intervening in the options of the search preferences; in other situations, however, there may be an “upstream” blocking, as in the case of institutions, schools, IT departments and other contexts where a higher administrator can impose the blocking at the lowest levels, or as mentioned for the browsing of minors.
How SafeSearch works on Google Chrome
Google Chrome offers some specific settings for managing SafeSearch directly from the browser. Through Chrome’s Parental Controls, network administrators or parents can configure SafeSearch to remain active regardless of changes made by browser users. This is especially useful for schools and businesses, where compliance with security regulations is crucial. Even for home users, this feature makes it easier to keep SafeSearch active on multi-user configurations.
Deactivating SafeSearch Google: the steps
Although SafeSearch offers protection, there are situations in which a user may want to disable it. For example, for those who search for content for educational or journalistic purposes, they may need access to information that SafeSearch may erroneously filter out. To disable SafeSearch, simply go back into Google’s search settings and uncheck the option.
It is important to be aware of the consequences: deactivating removes the filter, potentially exposing you to inappropriate material.
SafeSearch activates itself: why it happens and how to fix it
Sometimes, SafeSearch can automatically activate itself on a device. This happens mainly in two cases: when the device is connected to a network controlled by a school or company that imposes filtering settings, or if it has been configured while installing parental control apps. If we find that SafeSearch has activated itself and wish to disable it, we need to check the network settings or configurations of the parental control app.
Disabling these settings may require administrative permissions, so it is important to check that you have full access to the device.
Google SafeSearch and website management: possible problems and solutions
Google’s SafeSearch is thus an essential tool for filtering explicit content, but changing perspective can pose a not insignificant challenge for those who manage a site and want to ensure that they are not inadvertently excluded from search results.
Indeed, it is important to point out that, however sophisticated, the SafeSearch filter is not foolproof: despite Google’s efforts, which now applies the latest machine learning systems to detect explicit content that should be filtered out, some inappropriate content may escape the filter, and, more problematically for those who manage sites, the opposite sometimes happens, namely of filters being applied to “blameless” sites.
Clearly, this second case can be particularly thorny for those who manage sites: the possibility, however remote, that a site may be wrongly labeled as inappropriate by the SafeSearch filter should always be kept in mind when evaluating fluctuations in traffic and returns, because this situation can clearly cause a negative impact on the site’s visibility in search results.
In fact, when the SafeSearch filter is activated and the site’s content is considered explicit, pages stop appearing in SERPs for certain queries that lead to the site, but there is no communication from Google explaining the situation-in fact, there is a SafeSearch Filter section in the Search Console’s Removal tool, but it reports “only” a history of site pages flagged by Google users as adult content, a list that may therefore be partial.
So the first problem with sites with SafeSearch may be this: suddenly, organic visits contract almost inexplicably.
Especially if we are dealing with “sensitive” topics (with keywords or images that the algorithm associates with inappropriate content), activating SafeSearch on users’ devices is a possibility that should not be discarded in traffic analysis, but sometimes there can be borderline situations, where the filter’s trapdoor hits sensitive misjudged pages , causing a loss of visibility for that content in the SERPs and thus a drop in subsequent traffic to the site. This happened more often in years past, when SafeSearch could misinterpret certain terms or images and block neutral pages, or hide an entire site even if explicit content affected only a small portion of articles.
It is therefore important to determine whether our content is identified as explicit by the system’s complex algorithms, and we can perform two quick checks at the page and site level.
To check whether an individual page is blocked by SafeSearch, simply perform a search that has it appear in Google Search and click on “enable SafeSearch”: if doing so causes the page to “disappear” from the results, it is likely to be affected by the SafeSearch filter for the query in question.
On the other hand, to find out if the entire site is considered to be explicit, we can activate SafeSearch and use the site: search operator (which we know is also useful for checking that normal pages are indexed correctly ). If no results appear, it means that Google is actually filtering the entire site through the SafeSearch feature.
If, on the other hand, we have seen a drop in traffic on certain URLs and hypothesize that the cause may be precisely the misapplication of the filter, we can use the site: command on the offending URLs and ascertain the situation, checking whether and which pages in the domain are seen as explicit.
How to optimize your site for SafeSearch
Fortunately, as owners or operators of a website, we have some ways we can use to help Google understand the nature of the site and content, specifically following the steps outlined in the official guide, which allow us to improve the eventual application of SafeSearch filters to our project.
Specifically, the guide presents us with the four methods we have available to protect a site that publishes adult content or otherwise any type of content that could be considered explicit and to allow Google to understand the nature of the site and more accurately identify these topics from any “safe” parts: using the meta tag rating, grouping explicit content in a separate location, allowing Google to retrieve video content files, and allowing Googlebot to crawl without age verification.
These steps are used to identify explicit pages and, essentially, to properly activate SafeSearch filters on the site, which is the surest way to avoid unexpected and unpleasant situations. As Google also explains, these steps allow us to ensure that users see the results they want or expect to find, without being surprised when they visit the sites shown in the search results, and at the same time support Google’s systems to recognize that the entire site is not explicit in nature, but also publishes non-explicit content.
- Adding metadata to pages with explicit content
Google’s first tip is to add metadata to pages with explicit content: one of the strongest signals that search engine systems use to identify pages with explicit content is precisely publishers’ manual marking of pages or headers with the meta tag rating or an HTTP response header.
In addition to content=”adult,” Google also recognizes and accepts content=”RTA-5042-1996-1400-1577-RTA,” which is an equivalent and equally correct way to provide the same information (it is not necessary to add both tags).
The tag should be added to any page with explicit content: according to Google, this is the only thing to do “if the site has only a relatively small amount of explicit content.” For example, if a site of several hundred pages has a few pages with explicit content, it is usually sufficient to tag those pages and no other action, such as grouping the content in a subdomain, is needed.
In some cases, if we are using a CMS system such as Wix, WordPress, or Blogger, we may not be able to edit the HTML code directly or we may choose not to; alternatively, the CMS may have a search engine settings page or some other mechanism to indicate meta tags to search engines.
- Grouping explicit pages in a separate location
The second system for helping Google focus its SafeSearch filter pertains to site structure and is appropriate for sites that publish significant amounts of explicit and nonexplicit content. In practice, it involves separating and making the distinction between this content obvious even at the structural level by using a different subdomain or separate directory.
For example, the guide explains, all explicit content can be placed in a separate domain or subdomain as in this case:
Or, all explicit content can alternatively be grouped in a separate directory, as in this example:
The document clarifies that it is not necessary to use the word “explicit” or (or English “explicit”) in a folder or domain, but it only matters that the content is grouped and separated from non-explicit content. If there is no such distinction, in fact, Google’s systems may “determine that the entire site appears to be explicit in nature” so they may “filter the entire site when SafeSearch is active, even though some content may not be explicit.”
- Allowing Google to retrieve video content files.
The other task that may be useful to perform to optimize the site for SafeSearch is to allow Googlebot to retrieve video files so that Google can understand video content and provide a better experience for users who do not want or expect to see explicit results.
This information is also used to better identify potential violations of regulations related to child sexual abuse and exploitation.
If we do not allow the embedded video file to be retrieved, and if SafeSearch’s automated systems indicate that the page may contain child pornography or other prohibited media content, Google may limit or prevent the detectability of explicit pages.
- Allow Googlebot to scan without age verification.
The last option concerns content protected by mandatory age verification: in these cases, Google expressly recommends allowing Googlebot to crawl without enabling age verification. For this purpose, we can verify Googlebot’s requests and then publish the content without age verification.
Identifying and fixing problems with SafeSearch
As mentioned, Google’s systems are not (yet) foolproof, and the algorithms may erroneously mark neutral content as explicit even if we have made the suggested changes.
Before launching a “help request” with manual intervention by the company’s technicians, we need to follow a number of preliminary directions, and in particular:
- Wait up to 2-3 months after making a change, because Google’s classifiers may need more time to process such interventions.
- Even posting explicit blurry images on a page may still lead to the resource being considered explicit if the blur effect can be undone or if it links to a non-blurry image.
- The presence of nudity for any reason, even to illustrate a medical procedure, can trigger the filter because the intent “does not negate the explicit nature of that content.”
- The site could be considered explicit if it publishes user-generated content that is explicit or if it features explicit content injected by hackers using hidden keywords with cloaking or other illicit techniques.
- Explicit pages are not eligible for some search result features, such as </a href=”https://www.seozoom.it/rich-results-snippet-google-seo/”>rich snippets, featured snippets, or video previews.
- With the published URL test of the URL Inspection tool in Search Console, we can verify that Googlebot succeeds in crawling without enabling any age verification.
The guide then clarifies one final point: SafeSearch relies on automatic systems, and it is only possible to overturn automatic decisions in cases where the site has clearly been misclassified by SafeSearch, which incorrectly filters published content.
If we feel that we are in this condition, and if at least 2-3 months have passed since we followed the directions for optimizing the site, we can request a review by filling out the appropriate form posted online.
