Search engine for .xxx domains goes live (CBS News) A search engine for .xxx top-level domains is now live, the ICM Registry announced Thursday. Search.xxx will rank websites that have .xxx top-level domains. The controversial top-level domain was launched in December 2011. At the time, critics said the new .xxx domains would promote pornography. "The establishment of a .xxx domain would increase, not decrease the spread of pornography on the Internet," Patrick Trueman, chief executive officer of activist group Morality in Media said, when ICANN was voting to approve the top-level domain in March 2011. However, the ICM Registry argued that .xxx domains would make it easier to identify and classify adult websites for consumers, providers and people who want to avoid mature content. Tech savvy parents can install plug-ins for Firefox that will block .xxx domains. Forbes reported last year that a company called MetaCert, which works with the ICM Registry to label all adult content, offers a free plug-in that will block access to mature content. The move to a segregated search engine could also be that Google is not giving adult content priority. According to Network World, Google recently changed its algorithm - one of the results being that pornography is The Domains recently reported that the ICM Registry reportedly sold 40 .xxx top-level domains for an estimated $650,000.