Yin and yang, man. If one were to accept the task of indexing the world’s information, it would seem right and proper to index the good, the bad, the ugly and the pornographic-as long as it’s not illegal. As par for the Internet course, Google Base has become an online porn store in record time-or maybe a bad neighborhood directory.
Do you find weapons, gambling, and pornography areas of commerce that shouldn’t be available for search? Or are you a purist at heart who thinks the Internet should remain a free-wheeling Wild West of information? Discuss in WebProWorld.
When Google Base was launched in mid-November, it was intended as a sort of online classified service with a wealth of options for folks wanting to post just about any type of information.
“Google Base allows people to list anything they want. Want to create an entry for a recipe item? An event listing? A job posting? A book review? You name it, you can pretty much post it,” informs Search Engine Watch’s Danny Sullivan, who goes into painstaking detail about the program.
But as Internet history has suggested, a good opportunity for more socially respectable enterprises is a good opportunity for the less desirable types-if you wish to label them that way.
The pornography industry was one of the earliest and most prolific adopters of Internet marketing. The most popular of online categories, commanding some 17.3 % of web traffic, porn has also made its way to podcasts, and even PlayStationPortable.
So that means Google Base is no exception. As a site for posting anything and everything for sale or view, the bad parts of town are erecting their billboards.
There are guidelines, though, for posting your product or service in Google Base. In brief, it can’t be illegal, fraudulent or gambling related. Your text must be spelled correctly with proper grammar, avoid unacceptable phrases with offensive or inappropriate language.
“Ass Parade” is okay, though.
*This was the 10 result for the search term [sex], but has since been removed, as far as I can tell. A search for [porn] brings up sufficiently offensive material, though. Guess I should have gotten a screen shot. Giggity.
Google has been known in the past to deny AdWords ads for guns and gambling. As mentioned earlier, the gambling thing is still frowned upon. But if you want to buy a gun that s up to you, just be specific with your search.
A search for [gun] or [rifle] or even [9 mm] gets you nowhere. A search for [Smith and Wesson], however, takes you to where you want to be-if you can pull your perverted, gun-toting stoner self away from the bongs page, you can pick up the “ultimate backup and concealed carry handgun” .
Yin and yang, man.
Via Inside Google
