Did you know it's been two years since Google introduced Instant Search? It seems like just yesterday that my search engine of choice didn't try to tell me I actually meant to search for Katie Holmes when I was trying to Google myself, not that I do that or anything.


According to The Mary Sue, people were initially concerned that nobody would use Google Instant Search to look up words like "sextillion," "pork," or "book," because those words share initial letters with "sex," "porn," and "boobs." (Who was concerned about this? Mathematicians? Pig farmers? Librarians?) Google assuaged those fears by rendering certain words autocorrect-less; they would reveal a blank page rather than any suggested search results.

People were cool with this, until it became clear that Google thought "bisexual" was an inappropriate enough word to warrant a spot on the "bad" list. BiNet, a bisexual advocacy group, has been fighting for two years to get Google to take back its policy, and last week they achieved success. From an official statement:

BiNet USA is pleased to confirm that Google Inc. has unblocked the term "bisexual" from its search algorithm. Now that "bisexual" is allowed, terms such as "bisexual quotes", "bisexual rights", and "bisexual parenting" are automatically suggested to Google users. "It's not every day one of the biggest companies in the world changes its mind, but we are thankful that Google now sees bisexual people just like everyone else," said BiNet USA President Faith Cheltenham. "It will take time for bisexual search terms to be ranked as they were before the ban, but now bisexual people and their allies have a fighting chance to be seen, heard, and understood."


But, as you can see from the image above, it's not working so well yet: "bisexual" still turns up a blank page, although the site did suggest some good BIScuit recipes before I typed too many characters. Let's check back next week?

GOOGLE UNCENSORS "BISEXUAL" FROM INSTANT SEARCH? [The Mary Sue]