Time to stop using Google

[1952Sniper]

I got this email today from Rightmarch.com. You might find it interesting.

ALERT: Do you think we have a hard time fighting against the left-wing bias of the liberal mainstream media?

Well you're right -- but it's worse than you thought.

Now, it turns out the people running the big search engines are liberally biased, too -- and they're CENSORING conservative search ad results!

Specifically, we're talking about the biggest search engine: GOOGLE. Everyone uses Google. It's even a verb now -- "I'll Google that to find out."

But it's also an advertising vehicle -- you can pay Google money, and they'll put your short ad on the right-hand side of the page of search results, based on what people are searching for.

Well, we saw that if you typed in "Tom DeLay", all of the ads were ANTI-DeLay ads. So, we took the time and spent the money so that our PRO-DeLay ad would show up too -- first.

But then we wanted to also put up an ad that exposed the hypocrisy of the Democrats -- basically, showing how the Democrats are going after Congressman DeLay for things that they've done MUCH WORSE in. So, we copied one of the ads posted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee almost WORD FOR WORD, but changed "Tom DeLay" (the GOP leader) to "Nancy Pelosi" (the Democrat leader, who violated ethics rules much worse than what DeLay is accused of).

That's all we did -- we took the LIBERAL ad, and changed the words to make it a CONSERVATIVE ad.

And Google CENSORED our ad.

They pulled the ad, and the reason they gave was, "Google policy does not permit ad text that advocates against an individual, group or organization."

But the LIBERAL ad is still up. Click Here to take a look at the liberal ad; then look at our ad (and Google's rejection) by clicking here.

OUTRIGHT DISCRIMINATION! So now we need YOUR help to expose this blatant anti-conservative bias at the largest search engine on the planet!

TAKE ACTION: We're launching a major media blitz TODAY, with press releases to every media outlet in the country, plus broadcast interviews and an expose' on our weekly radio show this week. We're also placing this Action Alert across a network of major news websites, and dozens of blogs are already picking up this story. Google may think they have a "right" to apply their rules differently to different people -- but WE have a right to SPEAK UP when we see them exhibiting BLATANT liberal bias!

We need YOUR help. We've set up our site so that you can send messages to YOUR local media -- newspapers, television, radio, etc. -- DEMANDING that they report on the LIBERAL BIAS of the largest search engine in the world.

You can only send to five local media sources at a time on our system, but feel free to use our pre-written form repeatedly to FORCE the media to DO THEIR JOBS and report on this bias. Click here NOW to send your messages (we recommend you re-write the letter in your own words, to have a better chance of getting it published):

http://www.rightmarch.com/050305.htm

NOTE: For those who want to take more direct action, here are some contacts at Google:

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View CA 94043 phone: 650-253-0000
fax: 650-253-0001

Questions on "Ad Approvals" -
http://snipurl.com/ela9

Media Contacts:
Google Media Hotline 650-930-3555 or
press@google.com

Corporate PR
David Krane
650-623-4096
david@google.com

Corporate PR
Steve Langdon
650-623-4950
slangdon@google.com

Advertising PR
Michael Mayzel
650-623-4565
mmayzel@google.com

Technology PR
Nathan Tyler
650-623-4311
nate@google.com

Consumer PR
Eileen Rodriguez
650-623-4235
eileen@google.com

We don't have to sit idly by anymore when we see this kind of anti-conservative, pro-liberal bias ANYWHERE. Be sure to send this Alert to EVERYONE you know who wants to help DEMAND that the mainstream media report on Google's ideological discrimination. Thank you!

Sincerely,


William Greene, President
RightMarch.com

[pickenup]

Well ain't that a crock.

[Marlin]

Here is Joseph Farah's editorial on this subject from today's WorldNetDaily. It re-enforces the direction being taken.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Google joins media elite


May 4, 2005
By Joseph Farah

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com





The largest search engine on the Internet has plans to join the media elite – giving preference to such establishment news agencies as CNN and the BBC in searches over new independent media enterprises.

As Google explains it, the rankings will be "according to quality rather than simply the date and relevance to search terms."

The system is revealed by patents filed in the United States and around the world by researchers based at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

Currently, the company's search engine responds with thousands of "hits" in response to simple entries such as "Iraq," which lead to news websites. These are ranked either in order of relevance or by date, so that the most recent or most focused appear at the top of the huge list.

"This means that articles carrying more authority, say from CNN or the BBC, can be ousted from the first page of results, simply because they are not as recent or as relevant to the keyword entered in the search line," explains a news account in the New Scientist. "Now, Google, whose name has become synonymous with Internet searching, plans to build a database that will compare the track record and credibility of all news sources around the world, and adjust the ranking of any search results accordingly."

In other words, Google is going to be making value judgments about which news organizations are more credible.

I have to wonder what kind of expertise Google has setting such parameters. But given their example – CNN and BBC – it's clear Google's own prejudice is for the same old biases of the establishment press.

According to the report, the parameters used will include:

• average story length
  
• number of stories with bylines
  
• number of bureaus cited
  
• how long the company has been in business
  
• the number of staffers employed by the agency
  
• the volume of Internet traffic attracted to the site
  
• the number of countries accessing the site
  

"Google will take all these parameters, weight them according to formulae it is constructing, and distill them down to create a single value," says the report. "This number will then be used to rank the results of any news search."

While WND may do very well in some of these categories – for instance, in Internet traffic and number of countries accessing the site – it cannot, of course, begin to compete with news agencies such as the Associated Press with its 30,000 employees worldwide.



Yet, this is the beauty of the New Media, where a handful of guerrilla journalists have not only broken big stories ignored or overlooked by the Big Media, but helped expose the biases of those organizations.

This raises some serious questions:

• Is Google trying to win credibility itself with the Big Media?
  
• Is Google taking sides with the Old Media against the New Media?
  
• Whatever happened to the idea of unfair trade practices?
  

In the United States, we have a tradition of leveling the playing field and fostering competition in business. It seems now that Google has emerged as something of a dominant search engine it is preparing to help well-established, global news agencies hang on to their dominance – even as they appear most vulnerable to a media revolution sparked on the Internet.

I don't like it.

Maybe it's time those of us who have become reliant on Google to start searching for an alternative search engine. And it's certainly important for news consumers to be aware of the way they are about to be manipulated.

[SouthernMoss]

Before Google became the #1 search engine, I used to use www.mamma.com, which is a metasearch engine (meaning it searches other search engines and directories) . I know nothing about their current policies, but I went to their site just now and did a search for "beretta firearms." Below is a screen capture of part of the first search results screen, which includes both "mamma classifieds" and "Sponsored Links" that are gun-related. This example, of course, doesn't indicate anything about their conservative/liberal stance, but it DOES indicate that, unlike Google, it will accept gun-related ads.

I would have to do more research before I could endorse Mamma as an alternative for Google, but it's food for thought.

[GunnFixr]

www.ask.com is another decent alternative.

[offeror]

There are hundreds of search engines on the web but there are maybe a dozen that are huge, robust, and more comprehensive, including dogpile.com, altavista.com, alltheweb.com, and hotbot.com, to name a few. I have no opinion on the politics of any of these but they are worth checking into. Some of these may put little marketing things on your PC so keep an eye on them and do checks with Ad-Aware or something. Dogpile may be one of the offenders, I'm not sure.

I like to use a search engine as my home page. In the first place, they load instantly, unlike most other kinds of pages, and second, I'm just as likely to be searching for something as I am to be looking at my usual destinations.

By the way, thanks for mamma.com. That one was new to me.

[GunnFixr]

Originally Posted by offeror

...Some of these may put little marketing things on your PC so keep an eye on them and do checks with Ad-Aware or something. Dogpile may be one of the offenders, I'm not sure.

Dogpile is a major offender. I quit using it because my zone alarm would go off everytime I went to the home page. I run my anti spy program before I shut down each day, and I ussually pick up something that I didn't expect, so Dogpile isn't the only unfriendly neighbor on the internet.

[Kasatka]

That's a bummer because I always respected google for becoming number one from nothing. I remember when they first started out, and everyone laughed at them.

BUT! Theres hope, because I use a totally unbiased, user created, open search engine called Open Directory. Being a Linux user, I love the idea of an open search engine.

http://dmoz.org/

Give it a chance and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly suprised.

[Turdferguson]

Google has no political affiliations or preferences. You most likely have adware, or spyware on your computer. This isn't the 1st time googles has been accused of bias, try googling the word "failure". Also the top search results aren't always chosen by google, there is a process called "googlebombing" that allows a pankster to push unwarranted results to the top.

http://nwc.securitypipeline.com/show...leID=170704602

Oh yeah, I do know what I'm talking about, I am an A+ and network+ certified technician.

[Kasatka]

www.dmoz.org

The Open Directory Project. Best thing since barrel rifling.

[LIKTOSHOOT]

Google has no political affiliations or preferences.

That statement is pure BS!! Why don`t you check and see where they just sent 240 Million to



LTS

[JohnK3]

Originally Posted by Turdferguson

Google has no political affiliations or preferences. You most likely have adware, or spyware on your computer. This isn't the 1st time googles has been accused of bias, try googling the word "failure". Also the top search results aren't always chosen by google, there is a process called "googlebombing" that allows a pankster to push unwarranted results to the top.

http://nwc.securitypipeline.com/show...leID=170704602

Oh yeah, I do know what I'm talking about, I am an A+ and network+ certified technician.

Which means what, exactly? You can pass standardized multiple-guess tests?

Try this: I've been involved in the Internet since 1989. My Whois number is two digits. I've been managing clustered midrange servers for the same amount of time. I'm AIX 5.0 certified and a certified NetAnalyst Architect.

Doesn't mean beans when it comes to knowing whether or not Google has no political affiliations or preferences. Being able to understand the concept of bias and how corporations apply it every day qualifies me to know that Google exhibits all the symptoms of bias. When a corporation allows one type of ad that's biased but won't allow a similar ad that is biased in the other direction kinda shows the bias.

[Deputy Dawg]

I bet you have not heard of this one it is called dogpile it is a search engine.

[Marlin]

I used Dogpile for years. It is a good search engine. SoMo put me on to Mamma, though, which is better.

[JohnK3]

Dogpile is another metasearch engine, like Mamma.

[KyBlaster]

What about Yahoo? Does anyone know if they're bias? I have to say I have noticed that when searchin for info about guns or conservative issues that Goggle is not the best.

[CaptJackSparrow]

I used to use www.teoma.com because it was specifically a pro gun search engine. It merged with www.ask.com and I'm not sure if they're still pro gun or not.

[satellite66]

If Google has no bias why did they not alter their logo for Memorial Day? They alter it for other holidays which are far less important. Just an observation, but I think it speaks volumes about how they think.

[southernshooter]

SATELLITTE That don't surprise me after the Happy Holiday instead of Merry Christmas at Wal-Mart ANY DAY IN THE GUN SHOP IS CHRISTMAS

[SouthernMoss]

Is Left-Leaning Google Censoring Right-Leaning Websites?

Very interesting article. A couple of quotes:

Google, without any prior explanation or notice, has been terminating its News relationship with conservative e-zines and web journals.

Salvato was informed that there had been complaints of “hate speech” at his website, and as a result, The New Media Journal would no longer be part of Google News. As evidence of his offense, the Google Team supplied Salvato with links to three recent op-eds published by his contributing writers, all coincidentally about radical Islam and its relation to terrorism.

Google has become the single largest private corporate underwriter of MoveOn. According to sources in the Democrat National Committee, MoveOn has received more than $1 million from Google and its lobbyists in Washington to create grassroots support for the Internet regulation legislation [“Net Neutrality”]. Some of that money has gone to an online petition drive and a letter-writing campaign, but the majority of that money is being used to fund their activities against Republicans out in the states.

... Google appears intimately tied to former vice president and potential 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore. It is no secret that Gore is a senior advisor to Google...

[southernshooter]

That's a pretty cool link Southernmoss

[Marlin T]

Somebody asked about yahoo. There OK if you don't mind them sending people to jail for life or worse, for practicing free speech were free speech isn't allowed.


Thanks for the link SOMO.