New Search Engine Aims to Make Web Browsing Safe for Kids

By Katelin Walling March 2, 2016

Kiddle, a new Internet search engine, aims to make web browsing safe for kids.

Kiddle.co, a new site that claims to be a visual search engine for kids (Note: Though the design looks similar, Google is not associated with the site), is trying to make web searching safer, more appropriate for children than other search engines. “All sites appearing on Kiddle satisfy family friendly requirements, as we filter sites with explicit or deceptive content,” states the site’s privacy policy.

The site uses a ‘Kids Safe Search’ and filters results into three tiers. On any given search, typically the results one through three are “safe sites and pages written specifically for kids;” results four through seven are “safe, trusted sites that are not written specifically for kids, but have content written in a simple was, easy for kids to understand;” and results eight and onward are “safe, famous sites that are written for adults, providing expert content, but are harder for kids to understand,” according to Kiddle.co’s “about Kiddle” section. The first two tiers are handpicked and checked by Kiddle editors, while the third tier comes from Google safe search.

Kiddle’s design uses large thumbnails to illustrate results and large Arial font for better readability for kids. The site also claims that it doesn’t collect any personally identifiable information and deletes server logs every 24 hours.

While Kiddle aims to be the search engine for kids, users are experiencing a few issues with search results. For instance, the site blocks results for searches relating to LGBT terms, including gay and lesbian.

The new Kiddle search engine tells kids that "gay" and "lesbian" are "bad words." So NOT okay. pic.twitter.com/Wtvxejn6Kn
— Robin Stevenson (@robin_stevenson) February 29, 2016

The site has recently updated the result for most terms LGBT related to the below message. (Transgender is now an “appropriate” term to search.)

lgbt kiddle message

Other keywords that we tried that result in either “Sorry can’t help you with this query” or “Oops, looks like your query contained some bad words” include Nazi (what if your child is doing a project on World War II for school?) and “To Kill a Mockingbird” novel.

An example of inappropriate content slipping through the cracks, which seems to have been resolved when we did our own search, is when this Twitter user searched for rabbit videos:

Just heard of a "search engine for kids" called Kiddle. I was disappointed on my very first search. Yikes! pic.twitter.com/1KKlXPbbqy
— Nate Smith (@nthdesign) February 28, 2016

The site appears to be a work in progress: There are links at the bottom of the site where you can report sites and keywords that you think are inappropriate and are not yet blocked by Kiddle.

As with anything pertaining to children, media, and the Internet, the best bet to ensure kids are being safe online is to be present when kids are on the computer and keep an observant eye on the youngest web users.

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