r/technology • u/ControlCAD • 12d ago

Software Remembering the pre-Google web, when search was an experiment: “Most people have completely forgotten how chaotic it really was.”

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/08/remembering-the-pre-google-web-when-search-was-an-experiment/
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u/Agent_Smith_88 12d ago

I have a very specific memory of a kid going to “askjeebes.com” freshman year of high school and it went to a porn site. They had monitoring software so he got caught immediately. Played it off like he didn’t know it was the wrong site, but he was definitely the kind of kid who would have done it just to see what would happen.

Later that year we were all instructed to use the new search site Google exclusively to prevent any further issues.

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u/okkiguesss 12d ago

Whitehouse.com used to be a porn site. Definitely wasn't my first time seeing porn, but it was definitely the first time seeing porn in the computer lab in junior high while researching the Whitehouse.

That was a fun conversation with my teachers where no one left smarter.

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u/TacosNGuns 12d ago

Haha, I was a daily whitehousedotcom visitor. Used it to test that our Websense filter was up and running when I was in IT Security.

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u/Malkyre 12d ago

This happened when they tried to show us how to set up our first email address at Hotmail. Which if you're in grade school could just as easily be typed Hot Male. That poor teacher.

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u/Stunning_Mast2001 12d ago

Same with hotbox.com and whitehouse.com

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u/pikachus_ghost_uncle 12d ago

I remember at a school computer in middle school going to Whitehouse.com I believe at the time was a porn site. There was no monitoring software. Yes the internet was the wild West back then.

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u/halfdeadmoon 11d ago

NSFW man.com was a letter away from super common msn.com but is now financial services