BBC Search controversy: Auntie responds to her critics

An open letter from the head of BBCi...

"silicon.com's leader (Search and Destroy: Why the BBC is no better than Microsoft, 23 May, 2002, http://www.silicon.com/a53550 ) contained a number of misconceptions about BBCi Search that we would like to set straight. Let's start by clarifying that the BBCi budget, less than three per cent of the licence fee, is not allocated simply on the strength of past successes. Rather funds are assigned with the goal of providing services of greatest value to licence fee payers, within our remit as a public service broadcaster. Since the BBC was first given government approval to offer online services, a key part of our mission has always been to offer a trusted guide to the web, and to encourage UK audiences to get online, and that's what BBCi Search aims to do. It builds on already established initiatives such as our WebGuide, which provides non-discriminatory links to third party sites and Webwise, which provides advice and help to web starters Our BBCi search results draw on the BBC's 80 years of editorial experience and the breadth of the Google search database, to provide a distinctive service that is free of commercial influence and which aims to be safe from pornographic and other undesirable sites - something of particular benefit to inexperienced users. BBCi Recommended search returns are based on strict criteria which are the same for all websites, whether BBC or not. Of the thousands of BBCi recommended' websites that are highlighted within search results, just over three per cent are dedicated to the BBC's own websites. As for 'aggressively plugging' BBCi Search, the BBC has a duty to alert licence fee payers to the full range of services available to them through the media it has at its disposal, in the same way that other broadcasters such as ITV1 and Channel 4 do. The aim of BBCi Search is clear: to make the internet easier to use and thus to encourage more people to surf the net more often as a result. That benefits not only the audience, but also the wider UK internet industry." KATHARINE EVERETT
Controller, BBCi.