Searches on Etsy for Children’s programmes returning dildos- FFS!!

[SilverCatStripes]

I have just been searching for Gravity Falls merch on Etsy, and was presented with Pride Dildo in the search results, for anyone not familiar with the show it is a childrens show, primarily aimed at the pre teen/early teen market and children would be likely to use “Gravity Falls” as a search on Etsy - what pride dildo’s have to do with Gravity Falls is completely beyond me , this is hugely inappropriate particularly as one of the characters (who is 11 I think ?) is famous for her rainbow jumpers.

I have tweeted Etsy (linked tweet below- don’t care if it is outing will
name change at some point) but this isn’t just me thinking this inappropriate is it -

am I being unreasonable to think there shouldn’t be dildos coming up in searches for children’s programmes ??

twitter.com/SilverCatStreak/status/1532299605425152001?s=20&t=lmHgpvLQJLjrnOTqkQfRog

Agreed.

Aww why??

@youdroppedthis how many paedophiles are in parliament?

We can only name the ones who were caught. How many do you think there are?

@youdroppedthis

You said 'look how many paedophiles are in parliament' alluding to you knew the number yourself

Not really. Look how many have been brought into the open. Do you remember when the building containing the dossier burned down?

Have you seen what happens if you begin to uncover habitual paedophilia among the ruling class? Panama papers?

Was Saville known about before it was admitted? Did John LYdon mention it during the 90s? Was he close with the Royals and prime ministers?

No one can know the specific number, and you realise that yourself. There is more than enough evidence to show it's endemic.

Yes, just as likely there's that much in your own family,neighbours,friends

I expect the seller used a "Gravity Falls" tag. This isn't allowed as it is nothing to do with the item they are selling, but it ensures that their item is shown to way more people than it would otherwise be.

I am bombarded with sex toy ads from Etsy. Butt plugs, furry costumes, dildos. It's grim. I have never shopped for items like that anywhere (not my scene, nor DP's!) so goodness knows where they got the algorithm that I might like it!

Working in a related tech area, these ads should be much better policed/controlled. I'm not familiar with Etsy. Part of it is the recommendation algorithms, but the vendors of products also have a responsibility in how the list features, etc.

• User/profile specific: You, or someone on your profile, searched for a dildo related product. This really is by far the most likely cause.

• Mislabeled product/advertising tag: This is possible, and a product could end up in the wrong category. Again, I'd expect this is very very unlikely, since vendors are typically very careful about this (since they could lose sales)

• Category specific: There is a high correlation (purchase) between the various items listed in the category. Not likely IMHO?

Oh my goodness I had something similar lately. Searching for dog toys and puppy collars and then every time I opened the app I was greeted with dog dildos??! I googled this and inappropriate adverts seem to be an ongoing issue for a few years with etsy.

Yip. Keep pushing those boundaries and one day they'll hit the jackpot ☹️ everything has to be sexualised now.

YANBU particularly if safe search is on.

If I've got safe search I don't expect to see dildos.

My kids probably did search the internet in the run up to birthdays, find things they wanted and sent links for them. The modern equivalent of browsing the argos catalogue.

It's poor, that a search for kids tv related merch brings up totally unrelated sex toys. How can it not be?

Are we suggesting the world be full of explicit sex stuff, apart from protected silos where we keep kids? So, porn on any shelf in the supermarket, not the top shelf. Nudity on front pages, not inside pages? Sex toys on any aisle in the supermarket, as long as it's not the toy aisle?

In fact this is the equivalent of dildos on the toy aisle of the supermarket.

Thanks OP, have been looking for a pride dildo for ages now and just couldn’t find one anywhere. If only I knew to search for gravity falls instead!

The thing is though that odd things will always slip through. Places like Amazon/etsy are like marketplaces, yes the organisers can implement controls to stop dildos showing up but ultimately if someone decides to stick one on their stall occasionally they won't get spotted.

Yes, the internet should be a safe place for kids but it's absolutely not, and any parent who isn't closely monitoring what their kids are viewing only have themselves to blame.

If you are shocked by this OP don't go looking for anything to do with My little pony on any of these sites.

In fact this is the equivalent of dildos on the toy aisle of the supermarket

Not quite, this is the equivalent of dildos on the toy aisle of the black market, which is what Etsy pretty much is when you come to fan-made merch which is by and large totally unlicensed. Think of Etsy as a huge, unregulated car boot sale and you won't go far wrong.

If Argos started showing dildos next to toys on their website you might have a point.

Kids can walk down the aisle in the supermarket

But shouldn't be on Etsy

Not comparable AT ALL

I can’t get it to come up when I search.

Either way, it’s a site for adults.

Also, Etsy doesn’t appear to have a ‘safe search’ option - when people are saying they have safe search on, what do they mean?

If you mean your google is set to safe search, that won’t extend to other websites.

Alternatively, parents can take responsibility for their own children and what they view online for a change.

I also can not get that to show up for me in the first 10 pages.

Flag it to Etsy. I am not sure what you expect to gain from posting on AIBU... of course you aren't. Sellers can tag stuff with whatever they want, so report it. No point getting upset on MN about it.

What? It’s Etsy not Youtube!

All this thread will do is encourage lots of people to go searching for it and increase the number of views on that product. Which will in turn make it more popular than it was already and move it up the list in the search results.

No dildos when I search gravity falls…maybe someone in your house has been buying dildos recently?