Doug Edwards, the ex-Googler who began blogging about his experiences at the search advertising company, forgot a basic rule of AdSense when he made a post in November 2005.
“And they’ve found Igor Karkaroff’s body in a shack up north. The Dark Mark had been set over it – well, frankly, I’m surprised he stayed alive for even a year after deserting the Death Eaters…”
— Remus Lupin discloses the fate of a traitor to Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
We all expected Edwards to eventually fall at the hands of his former corporate masters at the Googleplex. He violated the code of secrecy that enshrouds Google’s actions, by providing an insider’s view of business life at Google.
For about 20 minutes before press time, the entire Blogspot.com domain, where Blogger-powered blogs like Xooglers and many others reside, was inaccessible. However, the condition quickly returned to normal, allowing a glimpse of the latest post from Edwards.
But it wasn’t the Google Legal team dropping ordnance on the Edwards household. Instead, Edwards committed a gross sin against the soul of Google’s business – online advertising.
He posted a copy of the email he received from the AdSense team, in reference to his second-ever post on Xooglers; the post in question has been removed from Xooglers. If you are curious, Google cache is your friend (and supported by a recent court ruling in federal court in Nevada, too.)
Hello,
While reviewing your account, we noticed that you are currently displaying Google ads in a manner that is not compliant with our policies. For instance, we found violations of AdSense policies on pages such as http://xooglers.blogspot.com/2005/11/i-become-unstuck-in-time.html.
Publishers are not permitted to encourage users to click on Google ads or bring excessive attention to ad units. For example, your site cannot contain phrases such as “click the ads,” “support our sponsors,” “visit these recommended links,” or other similar language that could apply to the Google ads on your site…and yada, yada, yada.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team
Edwards noted he has raised the whopping total of $203.14 in AdSense revenue, destined for donation to the Support Network for Battered Women as a charitable contribution. Perhaps the AdSense team will consider matching those funds?
Edwards also gives some insight into the Google-China censorship controversy. He sides with Google and said that the company spent a lot of time trying to find the best way into China, well after Yahoo and Microsoft had entered the country:
The whole China thing is mess of mythic proportion with no easy solution. It would be easy to damn Google for collaborating if I hadn’t seen how hard the company’s execs tried to find a creative way out of the box. The fact that they’re moving in to the world’s largest and most obvious growth market months, or even years, after their competitors speaks to the exhaustiveness of their efforts to find some alternative path.
I can attest personally to the passion with which this issue was debated within the company. Great concern was expressed for those in China who would know only a bastardized version of Google search and for the company’s employees who would be subject to the whims of the Chinese government if an official office opened there.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
