BOSTON – On March 23, the lights will go out on adult-related Blogger blogs when parent company Google hides the ones it believes exhibit no artistic, educational, documentary or scientific merit.
Although the blogs will remain on the Blogger platform — at least for now — only those with whom a blog’s author shares a hidden URL will be able to view the content.
In addition, Google will wipe links to all adult-related Blogger blogs from its search results, making virtually invisible some popular destinations that have existed for more than a decade.
As usual, when someone creates a censorship moat, someone else will devise a bridge. Enter adults-only search engine BoodiGo, which on Wednesday announced it has added a new search tab dedicated to existing adult blogs hosted on the Blogger platform.
“According to the new content policy, none of these blogs or their content will be deleted, but it seems clear they will become much harder to find and view,” said BoodiGo co-founder Colin Rowntree. “We preferred Blogger’s previously stated position, back when it was ‘a service which bases itself on freedom of expression,’ so we’re doing what we can to assure these blogs remain available to those who want to see them.”
BoodiGo created a similar search tab dedicated to Tumblr, filling a need created when the platform removed adult blogs from its native search function. The adult search engine plans to launch a blog platform of its own “soon,” to give adult bloggers a more hospitable place to call home.
“We want to give adult industry bloggers a place to voice their opinions and share content in an environment where there won’t be sudden policy changes which effectively censor or remove access to all their hard work,” said Angie Rowntree, co-founder of BoodiGo and founder of Sssh.com. “As adult business owners, we know all too well how it feels to have the rug yanked out from beneath you by third-party policy changes.”
To test drive the new Blogger search, visit BoodiGo.com and click the “Blogspot” tab.
