In general, the present invention protects actual search queries submitted to web search engines using a set (i.e., at least one) of supplemental queries (hereinafter referred to as securing search queries). As a result, collections of search queries will not form statistically stable categories, and will not disclose the search subject. Any hits resulting from securing search queries will be filtered from results that are returned to the requestor. In addition, the securing search queries can be associated with protective Internet Protocol addresses to reduce the possibility of the requestor of the actual search query to be identified.