Google Video’s Porn Problem
While Google is busily applying YouTube’s pop culture aegis to safe-for-work fare like politics and hip hop, the company seems content to allow also-ran Google Video to wallow in softcore smut.
Not a believer? Check the first few Google Video top 100 new videos, as delivered via RSS:
- Theo laughing at the Wii (195k views)
- Prostitute video (22k views)
- Beautiful girl kissing you with love (56k views)
- Bournemouth prostitute discusses her trade (114k views)
- First time online dating how to pickup dating sex (9k views)
The top 100 as seen on the Google Video site itself isn’t much better: Barbie Girl, Ainda te amo, Woman in Shower!!!, Guy pwned by girl and Girl caught by boyfriend. Some of the vids are lighthearted parody, but others, like two girls teach one another how to french kiss, are definitely lascivious.
Changing my content filtering setting doesn’t remove these videos, either. I set it to “Use strict filtering (Filter both explicit text and explicit images),” but the images and videos remain.
The odd thing here is that Google (and Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft) obviously goes to pains to scrub sex-related topics from Hot Trends and the zeitgeist rankings. Yet Google Video is allowed to remain as is. What’s more, traffic to the site seems to be going up, at least according to Hitwise. So what gives, Google?
“Our community of users polices the site for inappropriate material,” said Google spokesperson Gabriel Stricker via e-mail. “The users can flag content that they feel is inappropriate, and once it is flagged it is reviewed by our staff and removed from the system if it violates our Terms of Use.” (Hyperlink mine.)
In other words, Google’s not to blame, and it’s our fault for not flagging the smut. Not sure I buy that rationale, since Google seems to be doing a bang-up job of removing smut from YouTube, or at least keeping the smut from percolating into the most viewed videos listings. What’s more, Google employs a distributed network of freelancers to verify the content in YouTube videos — why don’t they use that same network for Google Video?
Follow the money, I guess. The more videos uploaded to Google Video, the more Google SERPs reveal those videos, and the more AdWords clicked. If Google can provide a better explanation, I’m all ears.
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Google Video is supposed to be community-regulated. Unfortunately, Google Video just doesn’t have enough of a community to regulate itself.
Hey people i havd a question1 we al know that watching the films or photos of people who are undrest and doing things they shoudnt do wile someone else sees it1 its bad for a persons mind because he gets his thougts al the time at what he sees and maybe he want to do it also … we all know what hapens . This is bad for al menkind so to make youre self clean in mind and heart we should clean the actions by cleaning the actions we clean the heart so we clean the world1 why dont just delete all videos and pictures and words that have to do with this from al the web just stop it… Thanks you just think of it God is our lord and muhammad is his mesenger please testify it and pure youre soul
Well, they don’t just have the soft variety now. I was doing a search for something else and some keyword must have been put in the videos’ tags – they were definitely hardcore. Damn, really hardcore. I couldn’t believe my eyes. This is why I like YouTube much better!
video actually made me laugh
This video the bloke is ACTUALLY having sex …and it has not been deleted yet lol ,i left link enclosed ,what madness of Google
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=438990745561019862&q=source%3A017916088591340511705&hl=en
Sex is part of life. Grow up and get used to it.
Steve, stop talking from your rear side (is that what you have sex from by the way)
My point was, sex is a part of life, TRUE, BUT and thats a big BUT, NOT the BUTT your thinking (you butt enthusiast)
BUT SEX IS A PRIVATE PART OF ONES LIFE. PERIOD.