» Subscribe to Newsletter
» Switch to BizTech2.com
Home » News » Internet Internet & Software » AOL Emerges as Safest Search Engine
AOL Emerges as Safest Search Engine
By: Priyanka Pradhan   |   Jun 09,2007
Web security firm, McAfee Inc has announced that AOL's search engine is the safest, among the top 5 search engines in US. According to the May study titled, 'The State of Search Engine Safety', overall, United States consumers make approximately 276 million monthly searches that lead to web sites that could compromise online safety.

McAfee studied the five major United States search engines, namely, Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and Ask, which account for 93 percent of all search engine use. The firm analyzed the first 50 search results returned by each search engine for 2,300 popular keywords. The keywords were selected from lists like Google Zeitgeist and Yahoo! Buzz, among other industry sources. Each result was compared to McAfee SiteAdvisor's Web safety database of 8.2 million site safety ratings.

The study was co-authored by Ben Edelman, noted spyware researcher and an advisor to McAfee SiteAdvisor. The study also highlighted that the overall safety risk to search engine users has declined by about 1 percentage point, while sponsored results, or those paid for by advertisers, remain significantly more risky than non-sponsored results.

Tim Dowling, Vice President, Consumer Growth Initiatives at McAfee SiteAdvisor remarked, ''We're encouraged to see some improvement in search engine safety this year. But with four out of five web site visits starting with a search engine query, consumers are still exposed to hundreds of millions of risky searches per month. In fact, an active search engine user, one that performs more than 10 searches per day, is likely to visit a dangerous site at least once a day.''

A cording to the study, AOL returns the safest results, followed by Yahoo. Categories related to music and technology continue to be among the most dangerous search terms. 'Digital music' returns the highest percentage of risky sites at 19.1 percent, followed by ''tech toys'' and popular keywords like 'chat' and 'wallpaper.' Also, File sharing programs were also prominent among top risky keywords.

Dangerous file sharing searches include 'Bearshare' (45.9 percent risky results), 'limewire' (37.1 percent), 'kazaa' (34.9 percent) and 'winmix' (32 percent).

Tags:
 
Ads by Google 
Post a Comment on “AOL Emerges as Safest Search Engine”
Comment : 
Name : 
City : 
Email : 
There are no comments on this article yet.
Why don't you post one?
Ads by Google 
Ads by Google
Ads by Google
Products
Camcorders  |   Controllers  |   CPUs  |   Desktop PCs  |   Digital Cameras  |   Digital Video Recorders  |   DVD Players  |   Games  |   Gaming Consoles  |   General  |   GPS Systems  |   Handhelds / PDAs  |   Hard Drives  |   Headphones & Headsets  |   HiFi Audio Systems  |   Home Theater Systems  |   Input Devices  |   Internet  |   Laptops  |   Low Level Components  |   Mac Systems  |   Mobile Phone Accessories  |   Mobile Phones  |   Monitors  |   Motherboards  |   MP3 / Audio Players  |   Multi-Function Devices  |   Networking  |   Optical Drives  |   PC Accessories  |   PC Add-on Cards  |   PC Cabinets  |   PC Games  |   Printers  |   Projectors  |   RAM Modules  |   Scanners  |   Software  |   Speakers  |   Telecom  |   TVs  |   Video Players  |  
Careers | About Us | Ad Inventory | Site Profile | Feedback | Copyright © 2007, Tech2.com India - A Network 18 India Venture