Startpage censors search terms

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by doonyakka, Mar 21, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. doonyakka

    doonyakka Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2006
    Posts:
    19
    Can anyone else confirm that startpage.com ignores any swear words in searches?

    I can't find any information about this in Startpage's FAQ or elsewhere, but it clearly seems to be their policy.
     
  2. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2008
    Posts:
    10,239
    Location:
    Lloegyr
    Maybe it depends on the particular word.
     
  3. doonyakka

    doonyakka Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2006
    Posts:
    19
    Exactly, that's what I'm talking about. It ignores particular words...

    I'm a linguist and my research is partly on expressive language, which includes swear words, epithets and the like. Startpage is therefore useless to me for work.

    Do you know if Ixquick acknowledge that they're doing this? How would they justify it? I thought the whole point of their services was to promote the free and private exchange of information...
     
  4. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2008
    Posts:
    10,239
    Location:
    Lloegyr
    I've been looking in SP settings & I can't find anything at the moment. Duck Duck Go however has the ability to allow 'adult' language (however you wish to describe it in semiotic terms ;) ).

    DDGPEG.jpg

    From what I can gather SP doesn't have the same kind of function. DDG will find all sorts of Anglo-Saxon verbs & nouns once this safe search has been disabled. I thought that this sort of behaviour was much more prevalent on American websites, which tend to be more prudent than the ones in my country. Start Page has a Dutch server but may be American based.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2012
  5. Judge Dee

    Judge Dee Guest

    For Startpage, go to settings and under "Web/picture family filter" set to "Do not filter my results".
     
  6. doonyakka

    doonyakka Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2006
    Posts:
    19
    I have the web filter disabled, but I still get zero hits for an uncensored "f*ck".
     

    Attached Files:

  7. doonyakka

    doonyakka Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2006
    Posts:
    19
    SP does have an option to disable filtering of 'adult' content, but it doesn't have any effect in the browsers I've tried it in.

    Thanks, I'll try DDG. Being based in the USA shouldn't have anything to do with it. Google doesn't censor any search terms if you ask it not to :)
     
  8. Judge Dee

    Judge Dee Guest

    I just tested with that word and it worked. You have to enable cookies (and I think allow scripts) for the "save setting" options, or you can press "generate url" and copy and paste that in the address bar.
     
  9. doonyakka

    doonyakka Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2006
    Posts:
    19
    Okay, so it's just me. I do have Javascript and cookies enabled for SP, and I've also tried it with the generated URL, but nothing works.

    Never mind. DuckDuckGo works, so I've switched for the time being.
     
  10. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2008
    Posts:
    10,239
    Location:
    Lloegyr
    However, I have discovered you can type words like f*** in SP here & get good results.

    StartPagePEG2.jpg
     
  11. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2008
    Posts:
    10,239
    Location:
    Lloegyr
    @doonyakka,

    You may find this etymological dictionary useful in your research, if you haven't seen it already.
     
  12. doonyakka

    doonyakka Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2006
    Posts:
    19
    Thanks. Dictionaries aren't really that useful...web searches give you access to huge corpora of actual usage, which is what research has to be based on.
     
  13. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2008
    Posts:
    10,239
    Location:
    Lloegyr
  14. doonyakka

    doonyakka Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2006
    Posts:
    19
    Semiotics is to linguistics what astrology is to physics ;)
     
  15. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2008
    Posts:
    10,239
    Location:
    Lloegyr
    LOL! I think you're probably right.
     
  16. vasa1

    vasa1 Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 1, 2010
    Posts:
    4,417
    Thank you for nailing that. It was being tossed about a bit too liberally ;)
     
  17. Daveski17

    Daveski17 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2008
    Posts:
    10,239
    Location:
    Lloegyr
    Well, you should know about tossing. ;)
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.