Comments on: Yahoo Protects Users From Dangerous Search Results

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Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:49:21 +0000

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By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:19:45 +0000

Love the idea and the implementation. But McAfee? Hm…

Yeah, that was my initial concern as well. But McAfee acquired this service, and so it's not all bad. Plus, if Yahoo is the one doing the processing I don't have to worry about the performance hit on my own PC.

CoryC wrote:

If they know the search result is dangerous then why don’t they delete the site from their index? Seems logical to me.

They could, but there's really no guarantee that everything on the site is dangerous. Plus people who go scouring around for warez would probably run into a lot of these dangerous sites, but want to proceed anyway.

Transcontinental wrote:

This Yahoo! Search initiative is IMO an excellent step, and at this point I’m hesitating between installing SiteAdvisor plug-in/extension and changing my default search engine to Yahoo! Search.

If you decide to install the plugin then you'll have this feature on all the major search engines. I like the idea of Yahoo integrating it though because then my computer doesn't have to do the extra processing.

soulslayer wrote:

Does anyone know if the SiteAdvisor browser add-on is only available for Internet Explorer? I went to McAfee’s Site Advisor website and only found the download link for Internet Explorer (it only says about IE, no Firefox).

It's available for Firefox as well: http://www.siteadvisor.com/download/ff.html

CoryC wrote:

At the very least search engines should provides users an option to automatically filter dangerous links from the results and that option should be ON by default. Safety and computer security shouldn’t be on an opt-in approach.

I think Yahoo is taking the correct route though. They are warning users of the link while offering the option to remove the dangerous sites all together from search results. It's a happy middle ground for me.

By: CoryC

CoryC — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:46:29 +0000

Grant wrote:

CoryC wrote:
If they know the search result is dangerous then why don’t they delete the site from their index? Seems logical to me.
Why take away the chance to be able to click on a dangerous link? You’re basically taking away the user’s free will and conditioning him to only see “good” things/sites. Thereby changing his state of mind and thought = brainwashing. Yahoo is doing the right thing. Awesome idea.

Brain washing because you're not allowing users to download virus and malware? That's crazy talk! The link isn't dangerous because of the content the user would see but because the site could do harm to the user (identity theft) or to the users computer (viruses, spyware, etc). At the very least search engines should provides users an option to automatically filter dangerous links from the results and that option should be ON by default. Safety and computer security shouldn't be on an opt-in approach.

By: soulslayer

soulslayer — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:10:57 +0000

Does anyone know if the SiteAdvisor browser add-on is only available for Internet Explorer? I went to McAfee’s Site Advisor website and only found the download link for Internet Explorer (it only says about IE, no Firefox).

By: Transcontinental

Transcontinental — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:51:45 +0000

This is a very interesting post. Also, it gives me the opportunity to ask (myself) if there is any sort of “Google addiction” which would lead – as obviously as obvious could be – one’s mind to systematically think “Google” when thinking “search”.
This Yahoo! Search initiative is IMO an excellent step, and at this point I’m hesitating between installing SiteAdvisor plug-in/extension and changing my default search engine to Yahoo! Search.
Sometimes I wonder if Google, in its cool attitudes, is not omitting essential security behaviors. I think Yahoo! more generally speaking is to be reconsidered in my narrow mind. Reconsidered in a more respectful way, that is.

By: Grant

Grant — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:30:48 +0000

CoryC wrote:

If they know the search result is dangerous then why don’t they delete the site from their index? Seems logical to me.

Why take away the chance to be able to click on a dangerous link? You're basically taking away the user's free will and conditioning him to only see "good" things/sites. Thereby changing his state of mind and thought = brainwashing. Yahoo is doing the right thing. Awesome idea.

By: CoryC

CoryC — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:18:52 +0000

If they know the search result is dangerous then why don’t they delete the site from their index? Seems logical to me.

By: Mohan

Mohan — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:10:43 +0000

Yeah I saw that over the weekend, it's pretty cool idea love it.

Amak wrote:

Love the idea and the implementation. But McAfee? Hm…

Well Yahoo! is using Site Advisor which was an MIT project but McAfee bought it.

By: Amak

Amak — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:03:52 +0000

Love the idea and the implementation. But McAfee? Hm…