back to article PORNAGEDDON: Sexy bloggrs stung by Tumblr smut smackdown

Porn aficionados, sex bloggers and perverts are up in arms after Tumblr wiped all naughty content from its search facilty - neatly erasing at least half of the cats'n'porn site's raison d'être. Fears of an imminent Pornageddon on the social network were first aroused when Yahoo! bought Tumblr earlier this year, sparking an …

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  1. Katie Saucey

    They just need 2 different search pages.

    Not that I think anything is worth reading on Tumblr, but why not have a separate dedicated smut search. They've obviously already done the classifications, how hard is to keep the peace with the (usually very vocal and dramatic) smut crowd by giving them their own search page?

    1. Don Jefe
      Happy

      Re: They just need 2 different search pages.

      I think the classifications probably confusing to the computers. A search for 'baby bottle leather sofa Eiffel Tower college life' classified the results under furniture, architecture, travel, babies and college and absolutely none of those categories really met the expectations of the average user...

      1. Grikath
        Meh

        Re: They just need 2 different search pages.

        You mean it's too hard to label adult content as such (either voluntary or automated, preferably both), and introduce a clean and unmistakeable "no I don't want to see adult content" option, set to Default On..?

        It's just a US company, (ab)using US puranitanical morals, being afraid of litigation fever. Isn't the first, won't be the last.

    2. Crazy Operations Guy
      Gimp

      Re: They just need 2 different search pages.

      Or just add a check box for "Include Adult Content" to the current search engine, like everyone else does.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: They just need 2 different search pages.

      "Not that I think anything is worth reading on Tumblr"

      You mean some of the entries actually have words on the page???

    4. Pet Peeve
      Big Brother

      Yeah, not happening

      Either 'NSFW' is flagged on blogs with hardcore porn, or none of this is in effect. Log into tumblr, make sure "safe search" isn't set. Search for the most explicit thing you can think of, and you'll find it in tumblr search.

      They've also marked the policy page that the article links as "in the process of being revised". I think they're going to walk most of this back.

    5. beep54
      Devil

      Re: They just need 2 different search pages.

      It's fucking Yahoo! Did ANYONE really think that they wouldn't find some way to screw it up??

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But gun porn is a-okay

    "However, we have to be sensitive to the millions of readers and bloggers from different locations, cultures, and backgrounds with different points of view concerning mature or adult-oriented content."

    ...and pander to the Americans, so we'll keep all the sites that are about guns and killing people, and hide all those nasty ones where people are having fun without harming anyone.

    Now, that's pretty perverted.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: But gun porn is a-okay

      Nipples are literally the worst thing in the entire world.

      1. BrownishMonstr

        @Nipples are literally the worst thing in the world...

        Reminds me of that Alan Partridge clip.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Trollface

      @Robert

      Now you're just being mean. Guns are the ultimate expression of a fundamental *human* right called self defence. The right to bear arms and defend your home and family.

      Surely you realize that nudity is something completely different. It just isn't normal, even though the whole of humanity seems to be strangely attracted to it at times.

      For $deity's sake, think about the children will ya? ;-)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: @Robert

        I'm sure it's a misquote, and should be the right to arm bears:

        http://davidstang.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/stickr_17230.jpg

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: But gun porn is a-okay

      "However, we have to be sensitive to the millions of readers and bloggers from different locations, cultures, and backgrounds with different points of view concerning mature or adult-oriented content."

      The millions who wouldn't be finding this stuff if they weren't looking for it?

    5. FrankAlphaXII
      Facepalm

      Re: But gun porn is a-okay

      Gun porn is a-okay and it should be, same with people porn.

      Personal liberty does not come with caveats. It doesn't mean people won't attempt to take advantage of it to suit their own ends, as governments and for-profit enterprises (as well as some Non-Profits) always do, but its hilarious to me how one can be all hot for tits and pussy or some well-hung stud with a 12 inch dick but get huffy and closed minded about someone wanting to look at, read about, or purchase a gun. You may not intend it that way, but it comes across as a viewpoint just as puritanical and blinkered as an anti-porn crusader's.

      But hell, its a moot point anyway, Yahoo! ruin everything they touch (or integrate it with Bing) so I wouldn't worry much about Tumblr's future, its as bright as Geocities. At least Google didn't buy them, they'd close it down in two years.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        Re: But gun porn is a-okay

        "Personal liberty does not come with caveats. "

        Um. Yes it does, unless you live in a one-person anarchy somewhere.

        "its hilarious to me how one can be all hot for tits and pussy or some well-hung stud with a 12 inch dick but get huffy and closed minded about someone wanting to look at, read about, or purchase a gun."

        That's pretty sick, to be honest. Getting turned on by sex is the same as being interested in and owning machines designed specifically for killing?

      2. DavCrav

        Re: But gun porn is a-okay

        "...but its hilarious to me how one can be all hot for tits and pussy or some well-hung stud with a 12 inch dick but get huffy and closed minded about someone wanting to look at, read about, or purchase a gun. You may not intend it that way, but it comes across as a viewpoint just as puritanical and blinkered as an anti-porn crusader's."

        Well, you're a bit of an idiot then. Pornography, or more generally sex, is the most in-grained impulses in humanity, and in sexually reproducing species in general. Furthermore, sex, by and large, doesn't hurt anyone.

        Guns have a limited number of household applications. Some people need guns, like soldiers and hunters, but almost everybody else doesn't, and shouldn't have them. It's obvious that they shouldn't, and pretty much the only country in the world that thinks it's obvious that they should is the US. But then they also think that poor people don't deserve access to healthcare, so it's indicative of a morally backward society that promotes violence and unchecked capitalism at its most feral. If you have a picture of you taken holding your favourite machine gun then you are a dangerous individual, who needs psychological help. Guns are not glamorous, they are dreadful objects that kill and murder.

  3. Wokstation

    Over on Deviant Art they have a Muture Content filter. When you submit something, there's a checkbox marked "contains Mature Content". Check it, and your work is invisible to people who have not logged in and turned off the filter.

    Not perfect, but better than Yahoo!'s move.

    1. Steve Knox
      Mushroom

      Over on Deviant Art they have a Muture Content filter.

      And Google, Bing, et al have "safe search". But this isn't the semi-sane web we know.

      This! is! Yahoo!

      (with apologies to anyone who has actually had to sit through 300 -- or browse via Yahoo!, for that matter)

    2. Cthonus
      Pint

      When I joined Deviant Art it was what it said on the tin :)

    3. LaeMing
      Happy

      Re: Mature content filter

      I have no problem with "Mature Content", it is an "Immature Content" filter I want to see.

  4. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    They are Americans

    They don't f*ck.

    1. David Webb
      Coat

      Re: They are Americans

      That's terrible, everyone should fsck every now and then especially after a dirty shutdown, why, if American's don't have a good fsck every now and then there could be issues!

      You did mean fsck and not fuck right?

      1. disgruntled yank

        Re: They are Americans

        Actually, I think he has problems with his hard drive.

        1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

          Re: They are Americans

          Oh, so you are saying you do fuck, after all? That you are simply a bunch of hypocrites, who make and consume most porn in the world but pretend that you are all procreating by way of immaculate conception?

          Ah, well, I stand corrected then...

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: A dirty shutdown?

        No good looking for one on Tumblr now.

  5. Roger Stenning
    Trollface

    To misquote Robin Williams...

    The management of Tumblr appear to be in more dire need of a blow job than any human in history!

  6. HamsterNet

    site:Tumblr.com

    So just Use Google to search Tumblr for your smut... but as your already on google there are a lot better sites you could search for :)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So just Use Google

      I thought they were shutting out the search engines from non-cat content. Did I misunderstand?

      1. oolor

        Re: So just Use Google

        >I thought they were shutting out the search engines from non-cat content. Did I misunderstand?

        Doesn't mean the google can't find it.

        Side note 1: should people who can't work around this be allowed to use the internet (I think I jest)?

        2: Am I ever glad I had the forethought to DL those pics, and finally,

        3: I was more pissed a few weeks ago when they changed the archive so you have have JavaScript enabled instead of paging through with all scripts off.

  7. Blitheringeejit
    Stop

    "Adult"..?

    I wish the compulsive categorisers of the modern world would stop using the phrase "adult content" when they mean "sex", "erotica" or "pornography". Speaking as an adult (in years if not mentality), I have many interests, and only one of them involves the kind of content under discussion here.

    Small wonder that the youth are completely obsessed with sex - they think it's all that adults are supposed to be interested in.

    Also, the word "adultery" is unhelpful here too.

    Something should be done. By someone. Immediately.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Adult"..?

      Also, the word "adultery" is unhelpful here too.

      Something should be done. By someone. Immediately.

      I think you have to have at least two people for it to be adultery.

      1. Justicesays
        Devil

        Re: "Adult"..?

        At least three people have to be involved, surely...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: At least three people

          Two of whom have to be married to each other.

    2. deadlift

      Re: "Adult"..?

      To quote Calvin and Hobbes...

      Calvin: It says this movie contains "Adult situations"... what does that mean?

      Hobbes: Probably things like going to work, paying taxes.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Adult"..?

      I've advocated for some time the replacement of 'adult' with 'grown-up'. Grown-up content. The grown-up industry. Grown-up images.

      Of course, when I mentioned this on IRC, the first response I got was: "So, like 'grown-uppery'?"

      1. Grikath
        Mushroom

        Re: "Adult"..?

        "grown-up" ?!!

        Hell I'm in the middle of my fourth decade on this dirtball, but if there's one thing I vehemently refuse, it is to "grow up" and become another mindless meatbag drone.

    4. LaeMing
      Happy

      Re: "Adult"..?

      Friend of mine, new to the English-speaking world, wandered into an 'Adult Bookshop' expecting to find literature targeted at adults. Well, she got an eye-full of, well, I guess some of it may be considered 'literature' one day. And "lots of plastic penises. Lots and lots of them."

      Well, she was basing the assumption on the term "children's books", of course. But the terms are not quite opposite!

      ...

      Do children enjoy childhood as much as adults enjoy adultery?

      1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

        Re: "Adult"..?

        Do children enjoy childhood as much as adults enjoy adultery?

        I think the main difference is that childhood is best enjoyed in retrospect but is not much fun at the time, adultery is likely to be the other way around.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Adult"..?

      It's called adultery because you have to be married to do it, otherwise it's just sex.

    6. John 62

      Re: "Adult"..?

      I get my kicks from the Adult cereals section at the supermarket.

      Oh yeah, I love me some of those bran flakes.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Also gays

    You now cannot search for gay rights issues on tumblr using a smartphone.

  9. Dan Paul
    Mushroom

    Long Past Time for Personal Responsibility...let alone "adult" behaviour.

    How about this...you as a person. take care of yourself and you alone and stop inflicting your BS religious morality upon me!

    While I'm at it, this includes all forms of Nannyism, especially that coming from New York State or New York City, Bloomberg or on the Federal side Obama, the Criminal in Chief, or his minions. Let's add any politician who believes that they have some god given right to tell women (or anyone) what they can and cannot do with their own bodies.

    Anything that applies to women should apply to men so let's make it REALLY equal... those invasive ultrasound probes (big ones) you require for women wanting abortions are now required for all prostate examinations, Governor DICK Perry..how do you like THAT? (probably more than we'll ever know)

    I hereby formally renounce and refuse to recognize the authority of any law or regulation that has a basis in religion or is administered by the religious or that has been promulgated by any self serving politician to suit their own interests to control the behaviour of other people. This is my right under the Constitution.

    That includes all laws meant to discourage any form of "vice". I take full responsibility for my own actions and expect everyone else to do the same.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Long Past Time for Personal Responsibility...let alone "adult" behaviour.

      I hereby formally renounce and refuse to recognize the authority of any law or regulation that has a basis in religion or is administered by the religious or that has been promulgated by any self serving politician to suit their own interests to control the behaviour of other people. This is my right under the Constitution.

      That includes all laws meant to discourage any form of "vice". I take full responsibility for my own actions and expect everyone else to do the same.

      All of them? Really?

      What about "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not steal"?

      1. FrankAlphaXII

        Re: Long Past Time for Personal Responsibility...let alone "adult" behaviour.

        Your understanding of the constitution is pretty vastly flawed from just reading that statement alone. There is nothing in the Establishment or Free Practice clauses of the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights which allow an individual to flout a law because they aren't religious. It doesn't work that way. Try to file a writ of Certiorari with the supreme court challening the US Code or Code of Federal Regulations because the people who wrote them were religious. You wouldn't get very far.

        1. Dan Paul
          Devil

          Re: Long Past Time for Personal Responsibility...let alone "adult" behaviour.

          Frank,

          Really, are you a lawyer or something? This is not court, we are not in fronyt of the "Justices" we are in a "forum" where people get to (and do) spout off their opinion on all manner of things.

          However, when my government (state and federal) believes it is above the law and takes certain actions that are specifically banned by the state and federal Constitution, and they are not challenged and their illegal actions are allowed to continue then it is my belief that the principle of the "Fruit of the Poison Tree" comes into play making any and all actions, decisions, laws regulations, etc of said govenrments agencies etc "Null and Void".

          We now have the "Criminal in Chief" and the Federal AG trying to start a race war so the have more reasons to try to disarm the "Amerikan" public and deprive them of their right to defend themselves.

          Obviously, having a personal weapon in Detroit is now a matter of such immediate urgency that any laws against gun ownership and use of lethal force should be overthrown as there is NO POLICE PROTECTION IN DETROIT ANY LONGER! Now that Detroit are going bankrupt, the cops take hours to show up for forcible entry calls.

      2. Dan Paul
        Devil

        Re: Long Past Time for Personal Responsibility...let alone "adult" behaviour.

        Although my comments were modified by the last part of the first sentence in that paragraph you pedants don't quite understand. So here's a better explanation.

        However I'm in good company as apparently, most governments don't obey them either.

        Whats good for the goose is good for the gander my friend.

        Unwarranted search and seizure (stealing), taxation without representation (stealing again), murder for hire, mercinaries, drug dealing, overthrow of peaceful governments (All by CIA,NSA,FBI), apparently none of those are considered wrong for the USA or most other governments so I claim the rights of equal justice as needed even though it is my personal belief that you should not kill other people without a damn good reason.

    2. Don Jefe
      Thumb Down

      @ Dan Paul

      You do not get to pick and choose what laws apply to you. That's just stupid for you to even say. You can't even order cable TV a la carte, much less law.

      The only people that can pick and choose what laws they follow are government types and even then the Constitution doesn't give them the right to do so.

      1. Arctic fox

        @Don Jefe "the only people who...........are government types......-"

        Government types? Sure they do - however have you failed to notice what the private sector are willing to get up to given the slightest opening? Improperly supervised power is the issue here regardless of whether it is in the private or the public sector. About time the free-market worshipers recognised that.

      2. Dan Paul
        Devil

        Re: @ Dan Paul

        Don,

        Sure I do, I not only have a right to practice the religion of my choice but I have the right to ignore laws that have a religious basis BECAUSE I GET TO PRACTICE MY FREEDOM FROM RELIGION as well.

        FOR THE RECORD: I claim the same equal protection under the law as anyone else and if any part of my government believe they are allowed to "break the law" then I'm allowed to also.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Don't know about search

    But the lovelies I follow on tumblr are still there in all their glorious naked details. American's still have nipples and other girlie bits.

    If my experience of the Bible belt is anything like typically, adultery is fine, just don't try and by the young lady who's trying to chat you up a drink. I don't remember "Thou shallst not have a wee dram" as being one of the commandments, but then who am I to know.

  11. rcorrect
    Mushroom

    LOL

    What is with all these anti-American statements? I like my porn just as much as the rest of... never mind I am not admitting anything. Carry on...

    PS Nude chicks with guns hell yeah!

    1. FrankAlphaXII

      Re: LOL

      >>What is with all these anti-American statements? I like my porn just as much as the rest of... never mind I am not admitting anything.

      I haven't looked at any of your other posts, and given the lack of a badge, you must be new here. You'll quickly find the commentards tend to look down their noses at Americans, they seem to think we're all fat, lazy, evangelical, gun obsessed and overweight. But hey whatever, if being prejudiced against us makes them feel better, good for them. And god forbid you identify yourself as religious in any way.

      Kind of a shame you joined recently though, you missed all the idiocy out of this banned nutjob named Eadon, which was vastly entertaining.

      1. sam bo
        FAIL

        Re: LOL

        " And god forbid you identify yourself as religious in any way."

        You just did. Atheists don't need a god to forbid anything.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: LOL

          I am often mildly amused by the habit of nonreligious Jews of using the phrase "God forbid". It's a verbal tic. I think I've trained myself out of it...I should be so lucky.

      2. Don Jefe
        Happy

        Re: LOL

        To be fair a lot of the people from the US (I'm from there) think all Britons have bad teeth, smoke pipes, wear monocles, drink tea all day and the women are all ugly. Which is patently untrue, they have some nice looking women. It's all fair play and it is a British site after all...

        1. h3

          Re: LOL

          All British people are like like that myself included. The women usually are ugly or prostitutes (Only with different costs - liars or upfront about what they are) so that is not far off either. There is quite a few female supremacists as well (feminists)

      3. Don Dumb
        Happy

        Re: LOL

        Kind of a shame you joined recently though, you missed all the idiocy out of this banned nutjob named Eadon, which was vastly entertaining.

        It really wasn't. As someone who reads these comments quite a bit but doesn't comment a lot and not being anywhere near as technically advanced as others on these boards I appreciate the insight and level of knowledge of many comments (rocket scientists commenting on rocket science news stories for instance). However, Eadon was totally ruining the comments sections. Trolling on anything that was even vaguely related to Microsoft and even commenting pointless anti-Microsoft nonsense on discussions that had nothing to do with IT. It's not that many here don't even agree that Microsoft isn't our favourite company, but the level of stupidity exhibited by Eadon in any discussion was becoming very tiresome.

        Having said that, what happened in the end? I see all of his comments have been removed by a moderator.

        1. Don Jefe
          Pirate

          Re: LOL

          Stop saying his name. You'll summon him back.

          1. oolor

            Re: Stop saying his name. You'll summon him back.

            Wait, you mean they are not going to write him back in?

      4. rcorrect
        Pint

        Re: LOL

        I haven't looked at any of your other posts, and given the lack of a badge, you must be new here.

        Are you joking? I've been lurking for almost 10 years, though it took a butthurt article about Woz a year ago to get me to create a forum account. The Register just has a certain bite to it that most other news sites are lacking. However, the most entertainment comes from reading the comments. You can learn quite a lot from them as well, a lot of experts share their opinions here. Cheers man!

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Suckers

    This is why I left Yahoo's Filckr service - to actually trust Yahoo! to make reasonable decisions and stick to its statements regarding policy is, well, a Fool's Paradise.

    Actually, to trust ANY modern megacorp to stick to its statements and keep an open policy is a Fool's Paradise.

    The world has been bought, sold and paid for. Carry on, you've been pwned.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    and this is why....

    I dont trust ANY cloud service to look after my data.

    HDD, and optical, plus off-site optical and flash.

  14. MrMcginty
    Holmes

    Naturally

    Tumblr is starting to succumb to ad-cancer anyway - mostly in the form of PRs who approach Tumblr bloggers with a very high number of followers and pay them to introduce patently-sponsored content (i.e. for some awful movie that isn't currently likely to succeed on its own merits) without labelling it as such. And that's just the elliptical route - in my opinion interstitials and worse are coming. But it was a glorious few years.

  15. saundby

    The Likely Decision Process

    Yahoo from Yahoo!: What's your bandwidth usage look like?

    Techie from Tumblr: About half cats, half porn.

    Y from Y!: What are the CTRs for each?

    T from T: About 4 for cats, 0.5 for porn.

    Y from Y!: Meh, delist the porn. It's a waste of bandwidth. Give the old 'family values' excuse.

  16. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    Curious how this will affect their site traffic.

    Badly I rather suspect.

    People are different and what floats your boat may not float mine (or even sink mine in fact).

    But People clearly wanted to post it and people wanted to look at it.

    WTF did you buy the site in the 1st place if you did not want the traffic?

    1. Don Jefe

      Re: Curious how this will affect their site traffic.

      That's the real question: Why did they buy it? I think it's just another side effect of the new boss having access to a lot of money but having no real strategy beyond 'buy one of everything and see what works'.

      Maybe they want to be like Google and bring in revenue from stack on services but Google has a primary product (search) and Yahoo! has what, a really cluttered home page? I guess Yahoo! News is good for the rants of right wingers but that's about it. Google has a solid foundation and built on top of it. Yahoo! seems to start about the subflooring level with things randomly bolted on; like a crazy hermits shack.

      1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
        Unhappy

        @Don Jefe

        " Yahoo! seems to start about the subflooring level with things randomly bolted on; like a crazy hermits shack."

        One of those simple little business rules of thumb I like to apply is "If you have no real plan don't make changes until you've seen how things are working at the moment."

        I get the feeling the new management have not followed that rule.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Gay and Lesbian rights

    Tumblr also tagged all gay and lesbian content as NSFW/Adult, even if it was not sexual in nature. This is a clear case of discrimination. It may not be illegal in whatever country they choose to uphold the law, but it's certainly immoral and belittling to their visitors.

    Estimates are that at least half of the traffic of tumblr is adult content. A lot of people visiting that read non-adult content will not visit if there's no adult content to be found, so they will probably find a lot of tumbleweed instead of tumblrs on their platforms soon.

  18. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    So...

    So, I was going to rebut this, based on Tumblr's information that they are only blocking NSFW content from tumblr's search engine, only until the user turns off "safe search". BUT! The FAQ on this topic omits to mention the "Adult" category at all -- which has "more" adult content than NSFW. This is treated just as the article suggests, blocked EVEN with "safe search" turned off in tumblr, and blocked from Google indexing it at all. Wow. Why have a "safe search" option if you're going to fail to index content at all anyway?

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fornicators should consider this ..........

    If Allah had wanted you to romp around nude you would have been born naked!

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    WTF is NSFW ?

    "Not Suitable For Wanking" ?

    1. Dave Lawton
      Holmes

      Re: WTF is NSFW ?

      Just in case you were serious, though I doubt it.

      Not Suitable For Work

  21. UNIX translator

    Fact is Yahoo owns Tumbler now and can do as they please just saying .

    1. umacf24

      Free Services

      This can never be said too often.

  22. UNIX translator

    Yahoo Porn ..... powered by Tumbler

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    should be "blogr" I believe, the txt spk generation can't handle the extra g.

  24. Old Handle
  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Violet Blue?

    How do you know "Violet Blue" is a "she"?

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