What is Google Safe Search? How can it impact SEO?

Safe Search is designed to prevent users from having explicit, pornographic, violent, or gorey content shown to them on the search results page. The Safe Search filters provide users with the choice to enable features that filter explicit content from appearing in the search results. When eCommerce websites or web publishers have products that are interpreted as nefarious they may be penalized. This includes hosting ads or dynamic third party content that breaks Google’s guidelines for Violence, Nudity or Explicit Sex Content.

How to tell if SafeSearch has impacted your Website

The easiest well to check if SafeSearch is impacting search traffic to your domain is by enabling SafeSearch features and performing a search using a keyword that would normally lead to the website. If the search settings prevent it from showing up in the SERP, there is a good chance that it is being affected by the SafeSearch filtering. Here are a few tips to troubleshoot SafeSearch filters without spending too much time.

Ensuring that your website appears in search engine results pages (SERPs) is crucial for driving traffic and attracting visitors. However, if your website is being impacted by SafeSearch filters, it may not be visible to certain users, limiting its reach and potentially affecting your traffic and performance. Here are some tips to troubleshoot SafeSearch filters without investing excessive time and resources:

1. Enable SafeSearch Features: To understand if SafeSearch is affecting your website’s visibility, enable SafeSearch features on your search engine settings and perform a search using keywords relevant to your website. If your website does not appear in the SERP, it suggests that it may be filtered by SafeSearch.
2. Analyze Search Results: Compare search results with and without SafeSearch enabled to identify any discrepancies. Take note of which websites appear or disappear when SafeSearch is turned on, as this can provide insights into whether your website is being affected.
3. Check SafeSearch Settings: Review the SafeSearch settings on your search engine and ensure they are set to the appropriate level. SafeSearch filters vary in strictness, so adjusting the settings may impact whether your website is filtered out of search results.
4. Monitor Traffic Trends: Keep track of your website’s traffic trends over time to detect any significant drops or fluctuations that may be attributed to SafeSearch filtering. Use analytics tools to monitor organic search traffic and identify any patterns or anomalies.
5. Verify Website Content: Review the content on your website to ensure it complies with SafeSearch guidelines and does not contain any explicit or inappropriate material. SafeSearch filters may penalize websites with adult content or sensitive material, so maintaining a clean and appropriate website is essential.
6. Optimize Meta Tags: Optimize meta tags, including title tags and meta descriptions, to accurately reflect the content of your website. This can improve the relevance and visibility of your website in search results, potentially reducing the likelihood of being filtered by SafeSearch.
7. Submit Website for Review: If you believe your website is incorrectly filtered by SafeSearch, you can submit it for review to the respective search engine. Provide detailed information about your website and its content to request a reevaluation of its filtering status.
8. Seek Professional Assistance: If troubleshooting SafeSearch filters becomes challenging or time-consuming, consider seeking assistance from SEO professionals or consultants. lionEater can provide expertise and guidance in optimizing your website for better visibility in search results.

How SafeSearch Works

• A specified reason is needed for personal data collection. Furthermore, this collection must be communicated with the legitimate reasons for the data collection.
• Once collected, that personal data can only be used for reasons specified in the terms of service
• Troubleshooting SafeSearch can be achieved using the following methods:
  • Enable SafeSearch on the home page or browser settings
    • Type site:[URL] [keyword or leave blank] into the URL bar
    • If your site does not show up for that [keyword], it is impacted by SafeSearch
    • If your site does not show up at all, it is impacted by SafeSearch
  • Check for metadata “content” tags to identify explicit content
  • Silo / Archive Pages that may contain explicit content apart from SafeSearch eligible content

Some important facts about SafeSearch

• Check your website for hackers or compromised servers. Often when SafeSearch filters are being triggered on a site that normally would not be filtered it is because it has been compromised, injected with cloaked keywords, or manipulated using other nefarious techniques.
• Sites that are filtered by SafeSearch are not eligible for many search features, such as Rich Snippets, Featured Snippets or Knowledge Graph.
• Check for any types of nudity — even medical imagery, as the intent does not negate the explicit nature of the image content

It’s important to understand that even blurred images containing nudity that link to explicit content will still activate SafeSearch violations. Automated systems can be triggered when embedded videos cannot be fetched and Google believes they may contain explicit material or child abuse. When dealing with technical challenges such as SafeSearch, there is an opportunity to troubleshoot and meet compliance goals.

Related: Why does SERP not match Title Tag?

Hosting Impacts

• Restrict opportunities for bad neighborhoods, CDNs, or other shared hosting options from including explicit content on the same servers as your website
• In some cases, Google will take restrictive action on how content hosted on specific servers appears in search results

Creating an inventory of your potential explicit content publishing policies can save time and effort when SafeSearch compliance questions arise. The first step is to define exactly what type of content is considered explicit before you can begin the investigation. It is also important to know exactly where the organization is storing the data, what servers are being shared, whether or not it is backed up, how often, who has access, etc. This will help when troubleshooting questions arise!

How Does SafeSearch Impact Hosting?
The impact of SafeSearch on website hosting can be significant, particularly when bad websites are hosted on the same server. SafeSearch filters are designed to protect users from accessing explicit or inappropriate content, and they may penalize websites that share server space with such content. Here are some key considerations regarding the hosting impacts of SafeSearch:

1. Shared IP Addresses: In shared hosting environments, multiple websites are hosted on the same server and share the same IP address. If a website on the server is flagged by SafeSearch for containing harmful or inappropriate content, it could negatively affect the reputation of other websites sharing the same IP address. SafeSearch filters may block or penalize all websites associated with the shared IP address, regardless of their content.
2. IP Reputation: SafeSearch filters rely on IP reputation to assess the trustworthiness and safety of websites. If a server’s IP address is associated with spam, malware, or other malicious activities, it may be flagged by SafeSearch filters, leading to consequences for all websites hosted on that server. This can result in decreased visibility in search results and potentially impact website traffic and performance.
3. Blacklisting: In extreme cases, servers hosting bad websites may be blacklisted by SafeSearch filters, effectively blocking all websites hosted on that server from appearing in search results. Blacklisting can have serious consequences for website owners, as it can result in a loss of organic traffic, diminished online visibility, and damage to the website’s reputation.
4. Quality of Hosting Provider: The hosting provider plays a crucial role in mitigating the hosting impacts of SafeSearch. Reputable hosting providers implement robust security measures and proactive monitoring to prevent the hosting of bad websites on their servers. They also take swift action to address any issues that may arise, such as removing malicious content or suspending accounts associated with harmful activities.
5. SSL Certificates: SafeSearch filters may also consider the presence or absence of SSL certificates when evaluating website trustworthiness. Websites that do not have SSL certificates or use outdated encryption protocols may be viewed as less secure and may be penalized in search results. Hosting providers that offer SSL certificates as part of their hosting packages can help improve the security and trustworthiness of websites hosted on their servers.

The hosting impacts of SafeSearch when bad websites are hosted on the same server can be significant and far-reaching. Website owners must carefully consider their choice of hosting provider and ensure that they adhere to best practices for website security and compliance. By choosing a reputable hosting provider, implementing robust security measures, and monitoring website performance, website owners can mitigate the risks associated with SafeSearch filters and maintain the integrity and visibility of their websites in search results.Looking for something a bit more comprehensive? Contact our team for affordable help.