KidzSearch.com is an American visual child-safe search engine and web portal powered by Google Programmable Search Engine with academic autocomplete that emphasizes safety for children. It uses Google's SafeSearch technology with additional search term filtering for added safety. Search results are customized by pushing age-appropriate content higher up in their search results. Large thumbnails are provided to make results more visual and easier to understand for children. It has many features, including an online encyclopedia with 200,000 articles[1] powered by MediaWiki.
Type of site | Safe Search engine and Web portal for Kids |
---|---|
Founder(s) | Dale Bock |
URL | kidzsearch |
Registration | Separate accounts required for some services. |
Launched | April 8, 2005 |
The operators of KidzSearch say that it is used in thousands of schools each day, and is visited by some 14 million people a month.[2][3] KidzSearch was rated by Common Sense Media who compared it to Google.[3][4] Their main focus is on older elementary and middle school students. They partnered with Safe Search Kids to host their search results and wiki pages. Network security company Untangle integrated KidzSearch into their system when safe browsing is enabled[5][6]
The site was launched on April 8, 2005.[7][2] In 2015, KidzSearch went under an extensive redesign process with a mobile responsive layout.
KidzSearch selects news articles appropriate for kids that can be 'up voted' by the user. Their music service has kid-friendly music stations. KidzSearch offers a website directory of kid-friendly websites. KidzSearch also includes a website with daily facts for kids. In the KidzSearch Wiki students can research kid-friendly articles designed for their reading levels. Boolify helps users learn how to use a search engine using a graphical interface.
KidzSearch has been criticized by Common Sense Media for including too many ads into their search results.[4]
Many users[13] criticized KidzNet after its October 2021 redevelopment.