Safe Surfing

is it a good idea to have safesurf meta tag?

[Monkscuba]

Well, I was just looking at safesurf.com and generated a meta tag for my site :

<meta http-equiv="PICS-Label" content='(PICS-1.1 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" L gen true for "http://www.mysite.com/" r (SS~~000 2))'>

It seems this identifies the site as suitable for all. I did a site search here bt found only a post from 18 months ago, with most agreeing it's worth putting this tag on the index page. What do people think now? What are the pros and cons? Would having the tag lead to any problems? if you don't have the tag can you lose potential visitors who have safe search modes enabled?

[operafan]

I realised for some searches, the top ranked sites have those safe surfing ratings inserted. I think it helps give them a boost?

[mbauser2]

I realised for some searches, the top ranked sites have those safe surfing ratings

And for most searches, they don't. You're failing Logic 101 here....

[digitalghost]

Safe Sure tags ensure that people that have SS and NN restrictions, allow their kids to view your sites. They can't hurt and that complies with Logic 101.

[Freedom]

I've used them on all my sites for years and I believe it helps. The link from a certain directory that requires it is nice too.

[ukgimp]

I read an artcle way back when, and it make a compellng case for it. There were apparently a lot of poeple who surfed with this in mind and could effectively lock themselves out of sites that did not have it. So I did it in a flash. Every vistor helps.

Take a peek at a few websites, the likes of Yahoo do it.

[domokun]

put it this way, inserting a tag that says to some peices of software that your site is safe to view anytime cannot hurt you.

[MatthewHSE]

I realised for some searches, the top ranked sites have those safe surfing ratings

And for most searches, they don't. You're failing Logic 101 here....

It's illogical to take steps to acquire more visitors? Is it also illogical to turn down ten dollars because "most dollars" aren't included in the gift? ;)

[Monkscuba]

Well, the concensus is to have the safe search tag. I have added it already. It can't hurt, and it may help. Now, I'd better remove all those naughty photos off the site.... (just kidding).

Can't see how it would improve rankings, but if it may allow a visitor to see the site, who may have been blocked before, that's great.

Y'all have a nice weekend now.

[mbauser2]

No, it's illogical to say "I think it helps give them a boost" just because a few high-ranked sites have the tag. Operafan's response was a basic fallacy of induction: He saw a few safesurfed sites doing well, and suggested they're doing well because of the safesurf tag.

By similar logic, I could "think" that Google boosts sites written in Italian, sites hosted on islands, and sites written by guys named Bauser. (After all, I've done searches recently where such sites ranked well.) None of those inductions would make sense either.

See, logic, at its heart, is about connecting cause and effect. Operafan's logic was on the level of "some fast horse have spots, therefore spots make a horse fast". That doesn't fly in the real world, shouldn't fly on Webmaster World.

In as much as two people here are disagreeing with something I hadn't said, I'm forced to call "straw man" on them. I'm deeply disappointed (and a little worried) that I have to call "straw man" on a moderator.

[MatthewHSE]

I know logic myself, and I still fail to see the problem here. Operafan didn't surmise that the SafeSurf meta tags definitely helped in the rankings; he merely said he believed they might have had something to do with it. He never claimed that it was the reason for the high rankings of those sites, and in fact he never claimed that it was any reason for the high rankings. He merely indulged in a little speculation, which we all do from time to time and which is perfectly logical.

I don't see how my comments and those of digitalghost are any more of a straw man than your irrelevant comment about "failing Logic 101." I was addressing the implication I perceived in your post, which I am freely willing to admit may have been inaccurate - but it was not illogical.

Not to start an off-topic "range war" here; I just don't want people saying I use logical fallacies. I'm a logician myself, of sorts, and to be accused of setting up a straw man isn't altogether pleasant! ;)

[operafan]

Sorry for " speculating " .I've been wanting to experiment the safe tags myself if it has any effect to ranking.
The reason being I saw those tags was when I was surfing Alta few years back & made some keyword searches & came across the top sites with such a tag, it wasnt a competitive term.
And so I went to the rating's site, they have a few I believe. Read wat the rating sites was all about & see that it was supported by Alta back then, so I guess if our site was rated by that Safesearch organization back then it would have helped in the ranking... who knows if the SE's might adopt that once in a while?

Logic is only what we know and analyze, what we don't know and can't see - can't hurt to check it out for ourselves before we give a judment or comment... :)
But with regards to that I responded, common sense comes in play that it doesn't hurt to put in that tag, unless we are dead lazy. Other than that, I did not analyze if it technically helps in ranking.. Only DA Guys know... I dont know..