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<DIV><FONT size=2>I got this today; did you? I'm not sure of the extent of
this kind of thing, and this is arguably the first time I've heard anything
about it, but it reminds me that the other day I was looking up something or
another and I encountered a "targeted ad" for both Rush Limbaugh's new (?) book
and for the RNC -- needless to say, the page I was looking at was very much
AGAINST these two icons. So I clicked on the ad! It was an
entertaining few minutes (hey, the Internet is all about entertainment, right?),
I got these two groups to simultaneously a) pay money to people who despise them
and b) validate the model of Someone Else Pays for content on the
Internet.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I read an article the other day about The War On Drugs over on
Salon, and I think a vodka manufacturer (a chic one, I'm sure!) paid for
it. I know it's probably a Bad Thing for a lot of the people here, but I'm
having a good time with this new phase of the New Economy; I'm calling it: Vodka
Companies Pay For My Fun.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Isn't this sort of like the Steal This Book approach to the
Internet?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Anyway, comments on the below? Interestingly, they sent
it to my address that I only ever use for Paypal ... hmmm. I wonder what
ads this message will generate in the archives? I hope this doesn't get us
put on Google's black-list :-)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Hopefully, this message will show up here:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20040209/003175.html"><FONT
size=2>http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20040209/003175.html</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>----- BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>> From: Ian Kleinfeld (DMY) </FONT><A
href="mailto:dpostmaster@democracymeansyou.com"><A
href="mailto:postmaster@democracymeansyou.com"><FONT
size=2>postmaster@democracymeansyou.com</FONT></A></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Dear Friends,<BR><BR>Believe it or not, it appears that Google
is censoring certain liberal websites. Please read and forward this e-mail to
everyone you know who might be concerned about this.<BR><BR>Recently, </FONT><A
href="http://www.DemocracyMeansYou.com"><FONT
size=2>www.DemocracyMeansYou.com</FONT></A><FONT size=2> decided to add Google's
AdWords to our outreach strategy.<BR><BR>After fine-tuning the ads to match
their posted editorial guidelines, imagine our surprise when within a few hours,
they were cancelled solely for the violation of an alleged guideline prohibiting
sites that "advocate against a group or individual." Interestingly enough,
THIS REQUIREMENT WAS NOT STATED ON THEIR EDITORIAL GUIDELINES PAGE--and as of
this writing, 2/10/04 is still not--which we have downloaded at </FONT><A
href="http://www.democracymeansyou.com/google"><FONT
size=2>http://www.democracymeansyou.com/google</FONT></A><FONT size=2> for a
record of the guidelines as of that date, in case they are changed after the
fact.<BR><BR>Additionally, all keywords (all suggested for us by Google's own
keyword tool) that related in any way to George W. Bush were
disapproved.<BR><BR>We wrote to the Google representative who repeatedly
declined our ads, and asked her for specifics of what would have to change in
order to meet their guidelines. We sent her several links that were political in
nature and could also be possibly construed as "advocating against an individual
or group," including ads from MoveOn.org, other political websites, Wesley
Clark, and several sticker companies, some of whom actually carry our own
stickers. Her responses were again vague and standardized:<BR><BR>"We have
reviewed your website and found that the Unacceptable Content refers to language
on your site against individuals such as George Bush. . In order to advertise on
Google, we recommend removing references and language that advocates against an
individual, group, or organization."<BR><BR>Later, we were advised to "any
sticker, button, shirt, magnet, etc. that identifies any individual, group, or
organization and contains language advocating against them." Despite numerous
requests, never, at any point, were we given a functional definition of what
"advocating against" meant, and where the line between "advocating against" and
satire was drawn.<BR><BR>Again, this is (was) not part of their posted editorial
guidelines.<BR><BR>Regardless of our explanation that DemocracyMeansYou
advocated participation, education and critical thinking, as well as publishing
satire and satirical merchandise criticizing the current administration, all we
continued to receive from AdWords was more or less stock replies and, given the
context of our repeated rejections, ironic boilerplate like:<BR><BR>We look
forward to providing you with the most effective advertising
available.<BR><BR>Even after calling Google's AdWords department, we were only
told that the representative "had followed company guidelines," but they offered
to have our site reviewed once again. Two weeks later, we still haven't heard
from them what the result of that review was.<BR><BR>We find this entire
experience extremely disturbing. The Internet was once about the democratization
of American and world culture, and Google was at the forefront of this when, as
a new "upstart" company, it turned the search engine industry upside down,
basing its searches on the democratic nature of the web. Their description of
their methodology even includes something to this effect. Needless to say,
Google has changed, possibly because of their planned 2004 IPO. Perhaps they
feel that by being more conservative, they will attract more investment when the
Public Offering is released.<BR><BR>Google continues to present itself as a
defender of freedom, saying "Google believes strongly in freedom of expression
and therefore offers broad access to content across the web without censoring
results." They continue, "At the same time, we reserve the right to exercise
editorial discretion when it comes to the advertising we accept on our site, as
noted in our advertising terms and conditions."<BR><BR>Of course, that's
sensible, but given their choice to censor DemocracyMeansYou.com and not
numerous other ads that on AdWords, we can only question the sincerity of their
claim.<BR><BR>Changes in policy and misrepresentations of companies as champions
of freedom are things that the public should be made aware of. Google is a far
cry from General Electric, but it's important that we catch and hold companies
accountable for their undemocratic actions early in the game before it becomes
entrenched in their company culture.<BR><BR>We ask you to write to Google at
</FONT><A href="mailto:adwords-support@google.com"><FONT
size=2>adwords-support@google.com</FONT></A><FONT size=2> to let them know you
disapprove of their political censorship.<BR><BR>Best,<BR><BR>Ian
Kleinfeld<BR>DemocracyMeansYou.com<BR><BR>______________<BR>Calling someone
un-American is the most un-American thing you can do.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>----- END FORWARDED MESSAGE</FONT></DIV>
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