A new study has found that children aged between 12 to 15 believe that Google's search engine ranks websites in terms of truthfulness, rather than the messy business of links, click-throughs and relevance.
The report was conducted by Ofcom and revealed that 32 per cent of those in the 12 to 15 age bracket believed that the more truthful a website's content was, the better ranked it would be. This is compared to 37 per cent of those who knew the real truth that relevance and usefulness was the key.
Safety first
The report also explored children's safety online and found that the majority of kids have become savvy about strangers on the internet, and will protect their social-networking pages, rather than let them be free to view online. This figure is now up 10 per cent from last year to 69 per cent.
Interestingly, the report also suggests that while the internet at home is on the whole monitored by parents (78 per cent for those with children aged between five and 15) when it comes to internet on a mobile phone there is little monitoring taking place, with just 15 per cent of parents taking a vested interest in what is viewed on a phone.
If you want to read more on the report, then point your browser to the Ofcom Advice page, found at www.ofcom.org.uk.
Via the Telegraph
