Access to the internet is everywhere and kids today have access to devices and technology that allow them to search the web more than they ever had before. Kids search engines are readily available and remove the worry of your child having access to inappropriate content.
Having this availability to the web is fantastic but also comes at a price and means parents have to be even more diligent in protecting kids from inappropriate and harmful content when searching online. That is where the role of a kid-friendly safe search engine comes into play!
In this article, we take a look at the best kid-friendly safe search engines available.
What Are Kid-friendly Safe Search Engines?
Kid-friendly search engines are designed specifically with children in mind. They offer a safe platform for kids to search for and view age-appropriate filtered content that is useful, easy to understand and fun.
Using these kid-specific search platforms allows youngsters some freedom to surf the internet and gives us parents some peace of mind that the search results will be suitable.
So What Are The Best Kid-friendly Safe Search Engines?
Below we round up our top list of the best kid-friendly search engines that enable kids to explore content while protecting them from inappropriate results.
Kiddle – Visual Search Engine For Kids
Kiddle is a visual web search engine and encyclopedia specifically designed for kids. Despite having the look and feel of a Google product, this is not the case. However, Kiddle does make use of Google’s Safe Search technology.
Kiddle takes a 3-step approach to ensure only appropriate search content is displayed.
- Step 1: this involves Kiddle editors hand-picking from content that has been created specifically for kids. Typically this content ranks within the top 3 results of the search page.
- Step 2: considers content that is not created entirely with kids in mind. However, the content is created in a way that makes it easy for kids to understand. Like step 1, this content is also hand-picked by the Kiddle editors and will typically rank from 4th to 8th position within the search results page.
- Step 3: leverages the power of Google’s Safe Search and does a pretty good job at filtering out inappropriate content that is typically created for an adult audience and perhaps is a little harder for kids to understand. This content typically ranks in position 9 or higher on the Kiddle search results page.
Kiddle Pros:
- Hand-picked content
- Doesn’t collect and personal information
- Multi-layer approach to filtering content
- Uses Google Safe Search technology
Kiddle Cons:
- Keywords can filter through the checks, for example boob vs. breast
- Sponsored ads can appear first within the results page
KidRex – Kid Safe Search Engine
KidRex is branded safe search engine for kids – by kids. With its child-like drawing approach, it’s both engaging and fun for kids to use. The search engine relies on Google’s Custom Search and Safe Search technology.
In addition to Google’s Custom Search and Safe Search technology, KidRex has an additional line of defense up its sleeve.
The team over at KidRex maintains an in-house database of inappropriate content like websites, keywords, and phrases that will further limit the potential of inappropriate results displayed on the search results page.
The search engine is easy to use and works just like some of the larger search engines we adults are familiar with.
KidRex Pros:
- Maintains its own database of inappropriate websites and keywords
- Uses Google’s Custom Search and Safe Search Technology
- Option available to report inappropriate content
KidRex Cons:
- Although small it does use external ads at the foot of the page
- As with all search engines its not 100 percent foolproof
Safe Search Kids – Google Safe Search
Safe Search Kids is another search engine leveraging – you guessed it Google technology. Like the other search engines mentioned, Safe Search Kids also has an additional layer of custom protection for vetting content.
The platform is well organized, has a fun feel, and offers a dedicated search option for content, images, video, and wiki.
One thing to highlight is the content the search engine offers regarding online safety, social media use, etc. this is a nice touch and makes it easy for kids to reference at any point
Safe Search Kids Pros:
- Custom vetting of content
- A well organized content platform offering online safety articles
- Separate search for images, video and Wiki
- Leverages the power of Google search technology
Safe Search Kids Cons:
- Has way too many external ads including a sticky ad which could be very distracting
- Sponsored ads can appear first within the results page
- As with all search engines its not 100 percent foolproof
DinoSearch – Safe Search Engine For Kids
DinoSearch follows a similar strategy to the other search engines mentioned above and offers various layers of content filtering before returning any search results.
DinoSearch maintains a proprietary list of keywords and phrases called DinoFilter. This filter is the first line of defense in blocking inappropriate content, images, and video.
The next content check is against the search engine’s database of inappropriate websites before running our well-known friend Google Safe Search.
DinoSearch Pros:
- There are no visible external ads on display
- Maintains its own database of inappropriate keywords and phrases
- Has an option to report inappropriate content
DinoSearch Cons:
- Sponsored ads can appear first within the results page
- As with all search engines its not 100 percent foolproof
Other Notable Kid-friendly Safe Search Engines
As well as the search engines identified above, there are a number of other safe search engines that offer similar benefits when it comes to safe internet searching, and those are:
How Do Kid-friendly Safe Search Engines Work?
Most search engines all follow the same principles when it comes to how they work. They initially crawl for content, index the content discovered then rank and display the content based on topic relevance. Where a kid-friend search engine differs is that it will apply an extra layer of due diligence to the content to ensure it is appropriate for kids.
Initially, search engines will use bots to crawl and discover content like text, pictures, and movies. This crawling and discovering content is a continuous and ongoing process for search engines.
Next up is indexing. Once the bots have crawled and discovered the content it then has to be indexed. Indexing sorts the crawled content into a logical order making it ready for ranking.
Search result page ranking is where search engines differ. Each search engine relies on its unique ranking algorithm to determine where within the results page should the content be displayed in relation to the search engine query and relevance.
Kid-friendly safe search engines then apply an additional layer to the ranking process. Depending on the search engine there can be multiple processes or steps taken before the content is displayed. For example, content may be hand-picked, may be assessed for its relevance to kids, ease of reading and probably most importantly the content will be scanned for any inappropriate words, phrases and URLs.
Frequently Asked Search Engine Questions
Is there a search engine that is safe for kids?
How can I search online safely for kids?
What are 3 ways to stay safe online?
Final Thoughts On The Best Kid-friendly Safe Search Engines
As a parent, it’s invaluable to have easy access to such capable search engine tools and platforms like the options outlined above whether your use is educational or leisure.
It’s very important to recognize that none of the search engines are one hundred percent foolproof. However that being said, they do add a strong layer of protection, coupled with parental supervision, and practicing good internet safety should have your kids well protected.
One final point to note. During my research and testing, I was disappointed to see some of the search engines using external ads on their sites, some more than others. This is something for you to keep in mind when choosing which kid-friendly safe search engines to use and trust.
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