( Mashable ) -- Some folks at the Hacker publication 2600 decided to compile a list of words that are restricted by Google Instant . Except in extreme and special cases , Google is known for anything but censorship , but as we 've said before , there are some terms the web giant 's new instant search feature wo n't work with . We understand Google 's intentions ; the team over there is trying to make sure that no one sees pornographic or violent results they might fight disturbing unless they really mean to search for them . When asked about this feature a few weeks ago , Google 's Johanna Wright said the restrictions are in place to protect children . But Google has opened itself up to a potential PR problem , because some of these omissions will be at best bewildering and at worst offensive to particularly sensitive ( or progressive ) users who do n't understand how Google Instant actually works . For example , `` bisexual '' and `` lesbian '' are among the restricted words . Type them in to Google and the instant search will immediately stop delivering new results . You have to hit enter to confirm , yes , you really do want to know about something in some way related to bisexuals or lesbians . Why did Google block these words ? You can still search for these terms . The issue is that when you type them , Google Instant stops reporting results on the fly , and you must hit `` enter '' to see results . That happens because Google Instant does n't just use what you 've typed to display results . It reads data collected over the years about previous users ' searches to predict what you 're going to type . It 's the same algorithm that handles auto-complete , or the Google Suggest pop-ups in the old , not-so-instant Google search . Google searches only display for the exact text that you 've typed after you 've hit enter . When results fail to appear after you 've typed `` lesbian '' or `` butt , '' it 's not because the results are being censored . Google is struggling to prevent the text of offensive searches users have made in the past ( there have been other controversies on this subject before ) from jumping up in front of you when you 're looking for something innocuous . Since countless users may have followed the word lesbian with `` porn , '' generating results inappropriate for children , Google 's algorithm has decided not to immediately throw 20 links to lesbian porn sites in your face when you type `` lesbian , '' even if that 's the most common search based on the algorithmic data . When we contacted Google for comment , we received this statement from a spokesperson : . `` There are a number of reasons you may not be seeing search queries for a particular topic . Among other things , we apply a narrow set of removal policies for pornography , violence , and hate speech . It 's important to note that removing queries from Autocomplete is a hard problem , and not as simple as blacklisting particular terms and phrases . In search , we get more than one billion searches each day . Because of this , we take an algorithmic approach to removals , and just like our search algorithms , these are imperfect . We will continue to work to improve our approach to removals in Autocomplete , and are listening carefully to feedback from our users . Our algorithms look not only at specific words , but compound queries based on those words , and across all languages . So , for example , if there 's a bad word in Russian , we may remove a compound word including the transliteration of the Russian word into English . We also look at the search results themselves for given queries . So , for example , if the results for a particular query seem pornographic , our algorithms may remove that query from Autocomplete , even if the query itself would n't otherwise violate our policies . This system is neither perfect nor instantaneous , and we will continue to work to make it better . '' Google 's highly effective SafeSearch algorithm still applies to instant search results . SafeSearch can filter out potentially offensive search results quite effectively after a user has hit `` enter '' -- the first page of results for `` lesbian '' with moderate safe search enabled is completely innocuous -- and it works for searches in progress too . Google 's current implementation is far from perfect -- the company rep admitted that . If nothing else , we 'd like to see Google manually re-enter safe suggestions for some common terms that have been restricted because they 're sometimes connected with sexual , violent or hateful results . The rep told us that Google is working on improving the system , but would n't give us any specifics about future changes . In the meantime , check out the complete list at 2600 if you 're curious . © 2013 MASHABLE.com . All rights reserved .
There are some terms Google 's new instant search feature wo n't work with . Team is trying to make sure that no one sees pornographic or violent results unless they want to . `` Bisexual '' and `` lesbian '' are among the restricted words .