Google makes what you might call “moral” judgments with whom is expressly forbidden from advertising on its network. Adultery, though, is apparently not a topic the company will take a stance against.
It would be a stretch to say allowance of questionable advertising is an endorsement of it, but not too far of a stretch considering what Google rejects.
SEOBook author Aaron Wall’s wife, Giovanna, posted a screenshot at the SEObook blog of some contextual advertising appearing above her Gmail account. After sending out emails regarding her recent wedding, Wall was shown ad promoting a website for finding lonely, cheating married women.
She writes, “Why would Google, with their ‘Do No Evil’ policy promote cheating and infidelity?”
She faced some criticism in the comments for her “moral platitudes” and others contended that Google shouldn’t be making moral judgments on ads. Rather, they said, Google should “err on the side of free speech.”
And that may be a fine argument if Google hasn’t made a practice since inception of deciding who can and can’t advertise based on certain moral codes. The company certainly hasn’t had any qualms about freedom of speech in advertising.
Google disallows:
Liquor ads
Gun ads
Gambling ads
Political ads against individuals, groups, or organizations
But adultery? Eh, they’ll leave that moral judgment up to the individual.
