[AktiviX] Fwd: Take Action: Fight the Google Outrage!
Paul Mobbs
mobbsey at gn.apc.org
Sat Feb 14 14:13:10 UTC 2004
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From: Jason A. Lefkowitz, Oceana [mailto:wavemaker at oceana.org]
Sent: 13 February 2004 15:45
To: Ralph Ryder
Subject: Take Action: Fight the Google Outrage!
Ask Google Why They Canceled Oceana's Ads
Dear Ralph,
You're not going to believe this.
Last week, we at Oceana decided to buy two of
the small text ads you see on the right side of the page when you search the
Web using Google. These are called "Google AdWords", and we thought they
would be a good way to introduce new people to the ocean issues that
Oceana -- and you -- care so passionately about.
Those ads started running on Friday, February
6. Two days later, Google shut them down, telling us our ads had been
"disapproved". Why?
Because they contained "language that
advocates against Royal Caribbean"!
That's right -- Google decided that they
couldn't allow an ad to run that linked users to a site like
StopCruisePollution.com, where we educate people on how much inadequately
treated sewage Royal Caribbean cruise ships are dumping into the oceans
every day. In fact, they wouldn't even let us run an ad that just pointed to
our main Web site, Oceana.org, because it talks about the Stop Cruise
Pollution campaign, too.
Now, that wouldn't be so bad, if they made it
clear in their policies that you're not allowed to criticize Royal
Caribbean. The thing is, though, they don't. You won't find that rule
anywhere in their Editorial Guidelines or Advertising Terms and Conditions;
all you'll find are vague policies that essentially say that Google can
squash any ad they feel like squashing -- which leaves one wondering
whatever happened to freedom of expression.
So, we're asking you to help stop this
outrageous behavior -- ask Google why they decided that a couple of tiny ads
pointing out Royal Caribbean's environmental record were just too hot for
them to handle. And once you've done that, tell a friend to do the same --
the more questions they get about this bizarre policy, the more likely it is
that they'll change it for the better.
If we're going to make change happen in this
world, we have to educate our fellow men and women about what's happening
all around them -- and we can't do that if corporate power can muscle us out
of the marketplace of ideas. With your help, we can send a message that
Oceana and the WaveMakers are one group that doesn't put up with that kind
of treatment!
Thanks for your participation!
Sincerely,
Jason A. Lefkowitz
Manager, E-Activism
Oceana
Send a letter to the following decision
maker(s):
Google Management & Public Relations
Below is the sample letter:
Subject: Why Won't You Run Oceana's AdWords?
Dear [decision maker name automatically
inserted here],
Recently, your AdWords service rejected two
advertisements placed by the international ocean advocacy group Oceana
(http://www.oceana.org/) on the grounds that they "contained language
critical of Royal Caribbean" and "contained language critical of the cruise
industry" -- even though there is no policy banning such language in either
your Editorial Guidelines
(https://adwords.google.com/select/guidelines.html) or Advertising Terms and
Conditions
(https://adwords.google.com/select/main?cmd=Doc&page=TermsAndConditions.html
).
Why isn't Oceana allowed to challenge Royal
Caribbean on this issue? Royal Caribbean's pollution problem is well
documented at http://www.StopCruisePollution.com. Every day, each cruise
ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet can generate up to 30,000 gallons of sewage
("black water") and 255,000 gallons of dirty water ("gray water"). And yet,
only three of Royal Caribbean's 26 ships are equipped with modern sewage
treatment facilities -- leading to thousands of gallons of inadequately
treated sewage being discharged into the oceans every day.
Royal Caribbean could fix this problem, but it
won't. So why shouldn't Oceana be allowed to point that out? Why did you
shut down Oceana's ads?
Google should reinstate the Oceana AdWords
immediately and show that it supports free expression of all viewpoints, not
just those sponsored by corporate interests. Google's motto has always been
"Don't be evil" -- this would seem to be a great opportunity to live up to
those noble words.
Sincerely,
Ralph Ryder
Take Action!
Instructions:
Click here to take action on this issue
Tell-A-Friend:
Hey, I told you that you wouldn't believe it.
Your friends won't believe it either -- use this link to tell them about it!
Tell-a-Friend!
What's At Stake:
Last week, to help introduce new people to our
Web sites, Oceana bought two "Google AdWords" -- those little text ads you
see on the right-hand side of your search results page when you do a search
on Google. One ad was a general ad to promote our main organizational site,
Oceana.org, while the other was to help raise awareness of our ongoing
campaign to stop cruise pollution.
However, to our shock, two days after the ads
started running, Google shut them down. The reason? The ads, they said,
linked to sites that contained "language critical of Royal Caribbean" and
"language critical of the cruise industry"!
That's right -- apparently Google has decided
that criticizing Royal Caribbean is verboten. Hard to believe? It was for
us, too. But they confirmed the policy when we contacted them asking to have
the ads reinstated.
So, what are the ads that Google decided were
so offensive, so shocking, that the tender eyes of the public needed to be
protected from them? Take a look:
That's right -- those are the scathing,
no-holds-barred messages that Google decided had to be censored. No, we
can't believe it either.
Now, this wouldn't be so bad if Google
admitted publicly that they will not allow you to buy an ad criticizing
Royal Caribbean or the cruise industry. However, in all their public
documents describing acceptable content for AdWords, they never mention any
such rule. Check it out for yourself:
a.. Editorial Guidelines
b.. Advertising Terms and Conditions
They claim that they don't need to mention any
specific rules because of a clause in their Editorial Guidelines titled
"Maintain Google Standards" that lets them "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"... except their
advertising terms and conditions don't say anything about Royal Caribbean or
the cruise industry, either. So what are you allowed and not allowed to say
in a Google ad? What companies are you prohibited from criticizing? Who
knows?
We've contacted Google asking them to
reconsider this misguided, Big Brotherish policy, but they won't budge. So
we're asking you to ask them why they're so set against letting anyone run
an ad asking Royal Caribbean to stop cruise pollution.
Use this form to send a message to Google's
founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and their Corporate and Consumer
Public Relations team, David Krane and Eileen Hernandez, asking them that
very question. Or, if you prefer, give the PR team a call:
a.. David Krane, Google Corporate PR: (650)
623-4096
b.. Eileen Hernandez, Google Consumer PR:
(650) 623-4235
If you call, just ask them why their AdWords
program won't allow ads that point out the truth about Royal Caribbean.
They'll get the message.
Don't wait. Take action!
Campaign Expiration Date:
February 20, 2004
==========
"We are not for names, nor men, nor titles of Government, nor are we for
this party nor against the other but we are for justice and mercy and
truth and peace and true freedom, that these may be exalted in our nation,
and that goodness, righteousness, meekness, temperance, peace and unity
with God, and with one another, that these things may abound."
(Edward Burroughs, 1659 - from 'Quaker Faith and Practice')
Paul Mobbs, Mobbs' Environmental Investigations,
3 Grosvenor Road, Banbury OX16 5HN, England
tel./fax (+44/0)1295 261864
email - mobbsey at gn.apc.org
website - http://www.fraw.org.uk/mobbsey/index.html
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