# Why can't I Google this guy's penis? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407 "2006-06-20T07:13:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/1 "2006-06-20T07:13:33Z")
Or more generally, how do pay sites (adult or otherwise) keep their content from coming up on Google and/or Google Image searches? Safe Seach is off so that’s not it. Google’s the main search engine I use but if you feel like answering for other engines, feel free. ---
**Author:** ![Dusty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@Dusty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/2 "2006-06-20T07:19:02Z")
Robots file. Google talks about it on their [How can I remove content from Google’s index?](http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35301&topic=8459) page. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/3 "2006-06-20T10:33:09Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Or more generally, how do pay sites (adult or otherwise) keep their content from coming up on Google and/or Google Image searches? Safe Seach is off so that’s not it. Google’s the main search engine I use but if you feel like answering for other engines, feel free. The same way they keep their content from anyone else who’s not a paying customer. I.e. various security schemes. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/4 "2006-06-20T10:50:42Z")
Google doesn’t, or can’t, search behind secure parts of sites, and all pay sites member’s areas are secure. For a given value of “secure” anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dusty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@Dusty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/5 "2006-06-20T11:03:07Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > For a given value of “secure” anyway. That’s key since, for some, their idea of “secure” is “hope nobody figures out what directory everything’s in”, or they could be setup so that the member’s username and password is passed in the URL itself. In either case, if a user were to ever link to something, suddenly the whole website would be exposed. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/6 "2006-06-20T16:09:33Z")
“Robots” alone is pretty good at keeping search engines out, so long as the search engines follow the largely voluntary guidelines. Another way is to simply block the known IP addresses of search engines. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/7 "2006-06-20T16:43:39Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Another way is to simply block the known IP addresses of search engines. You can also ask the HTTP requester what kind of program it is, and refuse to serve pages if it identifies as a bot. Obviously, you could just write a bot to lie and say it’s, for example, IE, but the major search engines aren’t going to do that. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/8 "2006-06-20T16:48:28Z")
A classic thread title! If there’s an honor roll of Most Memorable SDMB Titles this deserves to be on it. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/9 "2006-06-20T20:50:57Z")
Furthermore, how flexible would the guy have to be to Google his own penis? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/10 "2006-06-20T21:40:11Z")
Slight hijack, but can the various government survelliance programs check out “members only” sections of sites without the government buying a membership to [goatsecxgirlsgonewild.com](http://goatsecxgirlsgonewild.com) (for example)? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/11 "2006-06-20T22:15:45Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > **Why can’t I Google this guy’s penis?** Maybe he’s saving himself for marriage? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/12 "2006-06-20T22:49:35Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Slight hijack, but can the various government survelliance programs check out “members only” sections of sites without the government buying a membership to [goatsecxgirlsgonewild.com](http://goatsecxgirlsgonewild.com) (for example)? I don’t know what kind of clever trickery governments may have, but if a site is very carefully kept secure, it should keep every unauthorised person out, including hackers of immense skill. Not that guessing a login isn’t that difficult sometimes (stupid users and their simple login details…). ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/13 "2006-06-21T00:55:26Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Slight hijack, but can the various government survelliance programs check out “members only” sections of sites without the government buying a membership to [goatsecxgirlsgonewild.com](http://goatsecxgirlsgonewild.com) (for example)? Are you kidding? The government is a Charter Member. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/14 "2006-06-21T01:40:19Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Furthermore, how flexible would the guy have to be to Google his own penis? If I could Google my own penis I’d never leave the house. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/15 "2006-06-21T01:59:45Z")
> [@Bill Door](#): > > If I could Google my own penis I’d never leave the house. I wonder if telling the really hot girl in accounts that I’d love to Google her would be out of line. Yeah, probably. Damn Google is screwing everything up. Can’t find penises, can’t subtly harrass people. Dogs and cats living together! What is the world coming to? :mad: Anyway, I’ll side with the mention of security being the best filter to a search for content that is limited to members. Though, the government has always had the upper hand. If the CIA can crack the security of servers being run by foreign governments, I doubt a porn site would offer much of a challenge. **Otto** , are you looking for a specific person? Or just wondering why search results are somewhat limited? I know of a few search engines that you may be thinking of, but will have to mention them later if I can remember them. But no promises. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-google-this-guys-penis/361407/16 "2006-06-21T04:00:50Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Slight hijack, but can the various government survelliance programs check out “members only” sections of sites without the government buying a membership to [goatsecxgirlsgonewild.com](http://goatsecxgirlsgonewild.com) (for example)? I have no idea, but dude, that’s an AWESOME site.