McAfee used its SiteAdvisor's automated Web site ratings to assess Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, and Ask on the safety of these five search engines' search results. Results were released just last week as a follow up study to their December 2006 release. In both studies, AOL returns the safest search results.
So in case you didn't know, AOL Search defaults its search results to SafeSearch. You can check to see if your SafeSearch is on or not by looking at the status below the search box. You can go to your Preferences page or just do a search on AOL Search to get there:
Happy Searching!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1. 1. I searched for a way to DELETE THE IMAGES in my email SHOEBOX and AOL won't tell me how.
2. Well over a year ago, I asked AOL to refresh the boring and obnoxious images that came--without my doing-- with the My AOL page. I was told by a (rude) helpdesk person that he'd never heard of "MY AOL" and by another that the company had discontinued that service a year before. I see now that AOL is trying to get folks to add a My Aol page to their browser. HA! The MY MSN homepage is better. easier,with a better design and friendlier help. Mia,if i ask how to delete the images in My Shoebox you won't answer, will you?
Posted at 11:23AM on May 7th 2008 by Will Joltshaft
2. I think Mia that you are very attractive.
Posted at 10:58AM on Jun 12th 2007 by Grady Caldwell
3. Hi Mia,
Congrats on getting named the safest search engine 2 years in a row!
OVERVIEW:
How does AOL plan on improving the safe search functionality as time goes forward?
WHAT I FOUND:
I noticed while searching certain terms it seems that some creditable sites are being filtered out of the results. (BTW - I cross checked the same search in Google and AOL with and without safe search turned on)
While I understand it is very difficult to have a perfect filter, I would assume AOL would be striving to keep out the "bad stuff" but not block good resources from end users (hindering the user experience).
EXAMPLE:
My example includes the following search: "natural cure for erectile dysfunction". I understand there is a ton of spam surrounding the industry this search terms fall into, but I don't understand why sites such as "Health Central" would be filtered out.
QUESTIONS:
1. Does AOL search have a "White List" that sites get added to so they appear in the safe search? If so, how is it managed? (manually/automatically)
2. Does the filter use a metric/criteria to determine if a site is safe or not?
3. Does the filter automatically filter out websites based on the words in their title and description?
Thank you for your time,
Chris Phillips
Posted at 12:09PM on Jun 18th 2007 by Chris Phillips
4. this is hard to believe better yet I do not believe this crap when Aol lets over 100 other screen names on a person private information that makes this a lie so pound that up somebody else rear liars
Posted at 8:20PM on Jun 19th 2007 by Roger Waugh
5. Relevant to top stories link from AOL!
About: Alli weight loss pill. I have a lot to say. I find Mia's blog entry disappointingly simple. I don't know whether I prefer to believe that she was trying to cater to a less educated or less intelligent audience or if she just wrote a simple-minded slushy blurb.
One of my necessary meds, crucial to my life not only in long term prospects, but in my very immediate future, causes people to typically gain weight, though we don't know why. It is Zyprexa for Bipolared people and those with psychoses that can be managed with drugs and therapy. I'm not from Mars, just stating facts. I'm mostly pretty "normal" on meds and talk therapy.
So, who am I? I am obese and desperate and disabled. I am 5'9" and 215 lbs, down from my all-time high of 256lbs. I come from poverty and live in poverty, but I have seen and done a lot at 39 yrs old. I also have a college education. I'm applying for grad school at UW Tacoma next year. I wish to become a professional writer.
My disabilities are physical and emotional, and I have narcolepsy, not so rare as one might think. I have to have an AVERAGE of 12 hrs sleep per day, a modern Rip Van Winkle. Narcolepsy takes away 28 vital hours of my week. That's compared to 8 hour folk. I have no extra time for anything and stuff has got to be done efficiently and sometimes I have to lower my standards to survive. Depression takes some more of my vital time. This is my "no time or resources" for healthy diet and increased exercise argument, personally. Some of it might be helpful to gain general insight related to my commentary.
Also relevant to my credibility and right to offer my specific thoughts, below, are these: 1)I have no car. I get around via city bus, amazingly inefficient travel. One errand can take six to seven hours, 2)I know what bad weather and exposure is, hot or cold, 3)I know what a dangerous neighborhood is, 4)I self-educate. 5) I am life-experienced at age 39, and 6) I am regarded by some to be very bright. I have been in Mensa, if it really makes any difference.
With all of that stuff out of the way, here's the goods. I'll try to be brief.
Mia says she doesn't know what a fat blocker is, maybe a buzz word, then says what a fat blocker is. This forces a body to *use* the energy it takes in without stashing so much as fat in the body's energy banks. Fill the tank, explode the bank.
Pill recommends healthy diet and exercise, and if we did these why need Alli. Has writer ever been chronically obese? Physically unable to exercise? Without access to exercise, as in, no time or money? The outdoors is a fluffy answer. What about bad neighborhoods, extreme weather, or physical limitations? What about traffic obstacles and personal safety in general?
I can't help but mention this: people in poverty are disproportionately obese. Healthy diets are expensive and can be time-consuming, in general. Fat, sugar and excessive carbs are cheap calories and "food is food."
We all know about the standard advice of healthy diet and exercise. It's hard to do, and a lot of really unhealthy food get eaten for various tempting or necessary reasons. Exercise is often a very limited option for many people, and hard to get in for everyone. Exercise isn't easy. We end up being exhausted, sedentary and prone to instant gratification even if no other obstacles exist.
As for taking "advice on diet from GlaxoSmithKline," who cares, it's a diet pill shown to work!! I'm sure I'm typical. I'm fat and desperate. I want my figure back and I'll try anything because I've tried everything.
I can't resist saying this here, maybe self-defensively, that the "fat slob" is a little bit of a misnomer as we are often poor and new clothes are not in the budget. Finding oversized used clothes is hard. Making clothes is too pricey and time-consuming. Fat people get discouraged and give up sometimes, eating whatever, sedentary and forced to wear bad clothes anyway, so what's another stain? I'm not this way, but I can see it as a real thing.
I have educated myself about drug companies but this isn't typical. I understand the whole process, also not typical. I'd take Alli, and don't preclude it from my thoughts. I just don't have enough dollars.
Also, you asked if GlaxoSmithKline was shamelessly sef-promoting. Aren't we all? We have to be. Do we feel guilty if we get a promotion because we do well and present ourselves well? All companies must advertise, an annoying fact of life. Think of this as advertising and positive self-presentation.
Our American free enterprise-based economy brings out the best in products and the worst in people, a sad and uncomfortable fact of life.
On the flip side of the above, we DO have some of the best products in the world, and for good reason. GlaxoSmithKline is not saying anything it isn't qualified to say. They employ scientists and consult with medically trained persons and can always cite the common-law advice of healthy diet and exercise. They have gone through many filters and trials to be able to offer a drug safe for public consumption.
To summarize quickly,
I think I pointed out some of the more glaring flaws in a poor work of writing for public consumption, offered what insight I could, and wish now that my comments could be both happier and better said, even in this limited forum. No, fat-blockers are not a buzz word, and quit playing dumb, Mia. You defined them in your next line. Do you just not get it? I explained it above. Also, this pill is desperately needed, and can encourage us all to get on the wagon with the better diet and some real exercise. Americans are huge! We need some help, evidence "a priori." Have you ever been obese? Your last dumb question was this, "If Alli is blocking fat absorption, where is the fat going?" This is where Jack in the commercial is asked to point to the Angus region of the beef chart and says, "Umm, I'd rather not." (Angus is a breed, not a cut, BTW.) It goes to the GI tract's logical conclusion, the toilet.
'Nuff said? I feel better now. Mia's blog entry that I clicked into from the front AOL page just wasn't good enough, and my writer's itch was bad. Pardon the wordiness. I had lots of stuff to say. Thanks for this opportunity to say it. I'm really sure you think I'm a fat-headed crummy snob, but I'm really not. I try to do what I can and what I must. These comments fell into the must category.
Again, thanks, better luck next time. I generally find AOL very satisfying. Sorry, Mia. Maybe you were just overly busy and tired, maybe your dog died.
Sincerely,
Sheila
Posted at 7:34PM on Jun 20th 2007 by Sheila D. Ivy, B.A.
6. Mia very nice looking young Lady.
Have something that you might find that someone from a county outside the United States and she still tring to get here but this young lady is caring a very large amount of gold that was given to her by her Father at the time we got Marry and now she is in London trying to get though all the Red tape that that county can give her, not every been outside Africa coming to live with me and now there thinking about putting her in jail! Do you have anything that you can tell me how to go about this problem!
Posted at 4:29PM on Jun 21st 2007 by stan
7. Hi,Greg Here;Please feel free to E-Mail me at ( Lizardone2@aol.com ) I Would enjoy your company. : )
Posted at 5:05PM on Jun 21st 2007 by Greg
8. dear mia,
i appreciate your insight and comments. i unmderstand the research it takes to post your info,.however, please dont take this as a negative commentl, but, sometimes its frustrating to always hear the doom and gloom about the real estate and housing situation.the truth is that people generally act like cattle and react to the media's comments about the economy. i am an educated and informed consumer and we own our own bussiness restoring and selling antique cars, mostly 'GTO's(1964=1972 and othe muscle cars( www.customclassicgto.com) and i also understans that the majority of the problem is that teh market is correcting itsself, however, its unfair that people who didnt buy houses at super high prices for speculation or who had no part in the mortage brokerers jamming ballon based mortgage products into people's faces who lived above thier means that they should not be able to now sell thier homes because they want to relocate. the media tends to feed this fear. no offense, but some of us have children to support and are fearfull of losing what we have becaus ewe are trying to move and have two mortagages now and cant sell our home we are living in and now face losing what we have wprked for our whole life. Firstly, the fed must lower artes, secoundly, the media and aol blogs CAN help by utilizing GOOD and poative views, like; "dont budge on your price" or" " prices may return to normal". or some news or advise that would help prvent people "low balling " sellers. its a real problem that will effect us all very soon. thank-you for your consideration, sincerly, nino bolo)"tony c", Doylestown, pa.
Posted at 8:42AM on Jun 22nd 2007 by ninobolo
9. I think ur hot! Can i get your #?
Posted at 3:30AM on Jun 22nd 2007 by Peter
10. very nice looking, but not American to bad, so sad. I served in this countries USMC during the Vietnam conflict and with my knowledge of the way this country is on a downward spirual and sinking fast I believe more should be said about getting this country straighten out! "Amen or oh me?"
Posted at 6:58PM on Jun 25th 2007 by davey
11. i NEED HELP HELP
MY WELCOME PAGE IS INDICATING THE WRONG CURRENT DATE..WHY DOES AOL DO THIS..ONE DAY I WILL HAVE CORRECT DATE FOR THAT DAY ..NEXT TIME ON AOL THE TODAYS DATE IS INCORRECT..WHY WHY WHY...PLEASE HELP..
Posted at 8:15PM on Jun 25th 2007 by THERESA
12. Mia contact me asap, I am waiting for a delivery of panty hose that will deplete cellulite as you wear them. Over 20,000 pair have been sold with great results, keep in touch and I want to see for myself how this product works, I will let you know, thank you
Posted at 10:52AM on Jun 26th 2007 by Stan Kahler
13. Mia contact me asap, I am waiting for a delivery of panty hose that will deplete cellulite as you wear them. Over 20,000 pair have been sold with great results, keep in touch and I want to see for myself how this product works, I will let you know, thank you
Posted at 11:18PM on Jun 25th 2007 by Stan Kahler
14. Do AOL have a whitelist. I shouldn't be blocked...
Posted at 12:42PM on Jul 18th 2007 by Mike
15. Does AOL have a WHITELIST? I should be blocked...thx
Posted at 12:44PM on Jul 18th 2007 by Mike