Yesterday I was trying to download some free software on the Internet. The powerful search engine Google offered me an amazing number of related websites. I felt grateful for living in this information age. How wonderful to have such a great amount of information available!

However, I was soon upset, after trying several websites on the first page of the Google search results. What popped up were pictures of girls wearing the least possible clothing. Some were even winking. "What the hell is this?"

Initially, I thought I had clicked the wrong button and opened some porn website. But closing the first one did not help. The second, the third, and others following are no better. It was annoying and I was even embarrassed when a colleague came over who might think I was crazy looking at sluttish girls.

In fact, what I wanted was some place to download the acrobat reader, which, I supposed had nothing to do with porn. How come these unwanted pictures appear everywhere on the web? My IT friend told me that he never tries to open the sites searched by Google to download software.

"These websites intentionally add seemingly similar content for software to be found and downloaded by search engines," my friend said. By doing this, they can attract traffic to their websites with a totally different content - erotic material.

Apart from the disguised websites, such stuff can be accessed through popular sites, though to a lesser extent. On China's leading portals, sina.com and sohu.com, you can be easily navigated to these sensational pictures, stories and even videos. Special sections featuring boobs, beauty and naked pictures are available. Headlines of big boobs, fat butts and scandalous stories are always on the front pages.

I even once found a picture of a beautiful woman's face, kissing, when opening my e-mail account on sohu.com. Such unwanted visual pollution does not upset me alone. Parents have been reported to be worried about the unhealthy content available online. They have found their kids lingering online totally lost in a sea of busty women.

Why porn? Website editors surely understand how powerful this sensational material is. Before blaming it on the websites, I'd like to say that they are catering to the natural desires of men, who are frequent users of the Internet.

I interviewed several male friends, who confessed that they enjoy viewing these sites. As proof, the glamorous British model Jordan definitely enjoys the highest clicking rates. The intense competition has forced content providers to try every possible means, regardless of the consideration of what is healthy, to attract virtual visitors.

But how much can such content help increase online traffic? People who are initially excited about the eroticism will soon become tired of all this repetitive sensationalism. Only business models supported by quality content and creative services will be the ultimate winners.

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