Can a few non-safe words prevent my site from appearing in SafeSearch results?

Even family-friendly sites can sometimes mention what may be considered as adult words, though these typically occur in a wholesome context. A webmaster from Germany is worried that the presence of these words may disqualify his sites from Google SafeSearch, significantly decreasing web traffic. Is this a valid concern?

Google takes SafeSearch seriously and so should every stakeholder. However, Matt Cutts says that a small number of adult words will not hurt a site just by virtue of their occurrence. The company looks at other factors such as frequency and context in a holistic manner. The word “breast”, for example, is often used when talking about cancer and infant care. The genitals may be mentioned several times in a sex education or clinical studies page. Even though the frequency is high, Google will not filter the site if the context is wholesome.

Scale is another consideration. Matt illustrates this through Neil Gaiman’s Stardust. The book is essentially a PG-13 fantasy novel with one glaring instance of adult word usage. This singular scene does not render the whole work offensive. Google takes a similar mindset when weighing SafeSearch results.

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Can a few non-safe words prevent my site from appearing in SafeSearch results? –