There is no safer place than home. Parent should always feel secure knowing that their kids are safe at home. Unless they happen to Google what Miley Cyrus was doing to Robin Thicke, that is. The Internet is just making it so damn hard for parents to leave their children alone with gadgets and a working Internet connection.
Recognizing its carefree approach to searching, Google has brought a baby brother to life–Kiddle. With perhaps the cutest name for a search engine, Kiddle is a Google-powered engine made especially for kids and kid-conscious parents. Kiddle has an outer space theme, helmed by a red robot (but we have to ask: why does the robot look angry?). Its friendly logo shares Google’s rainbow of colors.
The engine works by filtering out confirmed (or potentially) adult content from the search. When the user searches for a keyword, the top three results are sites made for kids and handpicked by Kiddle’s editors. Results four through seven are sites not made for kids, but easy enough for kids to understand. Results eight onwards are famous sites written for adults but harder for kids to understand and filtered only by Google’s SafeSearch.
If you happen to search for something you’re not supposed to, Kiddle’s angry little robot tells you that your search contains some “bad words” and redirects you to the home page.
Kiddle also provides an interface that’s easier for kids to read and understand. Results are displayed with big thumbnails so kids (and wary parents) know what they’re getting into. The search engine also uses a sizable Arial that’s easier to read.
If parents spot any sites or keywords that Kiddle hasn’t blocked yet, they can report it directly from the site, to which Kiddle promises an adequate response within 24 hours of the report.
Users concerned with surfing security need not worry, too. Kindle does not collect personal information. It also flushes out its logs after 24 hours.
Kiddle is a search engine made for kids. But if it’s powerful enough to filter out Miley Cyrus’ derriere and the Kardashians, then by all means, sign us up!
