School children will no longer be subject to the 15 billion Internet advertisements on the web, with the introduction of Microsoft's "Bing in the Classroom" program, according to a press release from PR Newswire.
The program uses tough filters to eliminate content or other information not meant for young children to see online. Microsoft is the first company to provide such as a service.
"We created Bing in the Classroom because we believe students deserve a search environment tailored for learning. Classrooms should be ad-free, and that should be as true online as it is offline," Matt Wallaert said in a statement.
One of the participating school district's media specialists noted a difference in how her students behaved when they used a computer with the service, according to the press release.
"I teach kindergarten through fifth-grade media classes, and as soon as I started using Bing in the Classroom, I noticed my kids being more attentive and focused in class. We all know advertisements can be distracting, and with Bing in the Classroom I don't have to worry about inappropriate content getting in the way of the lesson plan or students' research," Lynda Shipley said in the statement.
Microsott officially launched the program to every K-12 school in the United States depending upon their eligibility after ending the test period for the service.
The program also prevents students' searches from being tallied while assisting schoolmates honing in on reading skills using a digital platform.
According to the press release, more than 4.5 million children in over 5,000 schools use the product.
More than 35 million searches turn up pages with information where ads do not exist. The advertisements reportedly promote academic degrees from Internet education programs and fast food.
