No true filter stops 100% of the targeted sites. Independent testing estimates 90%
to 99% of the targeted sites are blocked at any given time. This percentage fluctuates
as new sites go up every day. The actual percentage is very difficult to obtain.
Independent tests have placed us anywhere from 90% to 99%. By far the best number
to credibly claim is the one from the InfoPeople Project, which was done by the
U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. Public librarians tested nine companies,
including X-Stop, N2H2, CyberPatrol and Websense. Their report was issued in May
of 2001. On "Scored On Should Block" FilterNet received a rating of 92%. By comparison,
N2H2 received 100% (their issue has always been overblocking), Websense received
92%, and CyberPatrol received 77%. Other tests have placed us higher, but the methods
in most tests are so far from scientific, that it is difficult to get accurate numbers.
The reality is that the accuracy changes every hour of every day. One other test
that we did, just to see how we stacked up against our competitors, was to obtain
a third-party list of porn sites. We took 100 unique domains and IP addresses that
we had recently added to our database and built a webpage of links for these 100
sites, downloaded other filters, and started clicking. We were genuinely surprised
by the results.
| Product | Blocking Test |
| FilterNet | 100% |
| N2H2 | 91% |
| We-Blocker | 59% |
| X-Stop | 45% |
| Cyber Patrol 5.0 | 27% |
| SmartFilter | 17% |