Google Refuses Ad for Critical Site

The widely-used search engine Google has recently been criticized for removing links to Operation Clambake [www.xenu.net], the most comprehensive Web site about Scientology's dark side.

It now appears that Google is refusing ads pointing to sites critical of Scientology - originally classifying them as "sites that promote hate."

Chronology

March 22, 2002 I place a standard Google ad for scientology-lies.com; it runs with no problem, but after about two hours, I have hit my spending limit
March 22, 2002 I place a Google AdWords Select ad for scientology-lies.com; within an hour or so, Google stops running the ad and informs me that they're not accepting ads for sites that "promote hate"; I write back and ask for clarification
March 23, 2002 I place a Google AdWords Select ad for truthaboutscientology.com
March 25, 2002 After running my ad for two days, Google cancels it. They inform me that it has also been deemed a site that "advocates against an individual, group, or organization"; I write back stating that it doesn't, and asking about ads they are currently running that advocate against the President (an individual), Enron (an organization), and the Republican majority on the Supreme Court (a group)
March 28, 2002 Google sends me two separate replies; they say the anti-Republican ads will be disapproved and rejected, but they fail to say how they determine whether a site "advocates against" a person or group

As of March 31, 2002, their Terms and Conditions still do not say anything about refusing to run ads that "advocate against" anyone.

Google's rejections and my replies

My post to a.r.s. (the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup)

The following message was posted to alt.religion.scientology on March 22, 2002.

Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Google runs ad, then rejects it
From: Kristi Wachter 
Organization: http://www.scientology-lies.com

Wow.

I ran an ad on Google this morning (with mixed feelings; I've been a 
Google fan for ages and, while I'm deeply dismayed that they removed 
xenu.net links in response to Scientology's DMCA complaint, I still like 
them a lot ... for the time being, anyway) -

Anyway, I figured with all the publicity lately, it might be a good time 
to try out the ads on Google.

So I bought a regular AdWords ad:

Scientology Lies!
& breaks the law & hurts people.
Get informed & get involved!
www.scientology-lies.com

The link went to http://www.scientology-lies.com/investigation.html .

Within just a few hours, I'd already run through the little bit of money I 
wanted to spend. (I got over 150 clickthroughs, according to my Google 
report.)

So I figured I'd try their other program, AdWords Select.

I submitted the exact same ad text.

Within about an hour after I submitted this same ad to the AdWords Select 
program, I got an e-mail from Google saying they wouldn't run it because 
"At this time, we are not running ads for sites that promote hate against 
another group or business."

I am stunned.

I wrote back, informing them that my site doesn't promote hate and asking 
why they thought it does.

I'm curious whether they have a different policy for AdWords vs. AdWords 
Select, or whether they changed their policy in the last hour or so.

Their letter and my reply are below.

Kristi

Google's e-mail refusing my ad

Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 08:57:22 -0800
Message-ID: <4491466.1016816242430.JavaMail.root@exyy34>
From: adwords-support@google.com
To: googleads@racerrecords.com
Subject: Changes to your Google Adwords campaign

Hello Kristi Wachter,

We are not able to run the following ad(s) in Ad Group #1, of Campaign #1
you have created using the Google AdWords Select Advertising Program:

Scientology Lies!
& breaks the law & hurts people.
Get informed & get involved!
www.scientology-lies.com

Thank you for advertising on Google. At this time, we are not running ads
for sites that promote hate against another group or business.  We review
ads on a case-by-case basis and reserve the right to not run certain ads,
or certain categories of ads. Due to our current ads policy, we are unable
to run your ad on Google.

Google believes strongly in freedom of expression and therefore offers
broad access to content across the web without censoring results. 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.  Please note that the decisions we make
concerning advertising in no way affect the search results we deliver.  
Sincerely,

The Google AdWords Team

My reply to Google

Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 10:21:10 -0700
From: Kristi Wachter 
To: adwords-support@google.com
Subject: Re: Changes to your Google Adwords campaign

Hi there,

I was most surprised to receive the e-mail below.

The site I wish to advertise does not promote hate. What made you think it
does?

Does this policy apply to both the Adwords and Adwords Select programs?

I anxiously await your reply.

Thank you,



Kristi


--
Kristi Wachter
the activist formerly known as "Jour" (before $cientology outed me)

If I am not who you say I am, then you are not who you think you are.
  - James Baldwin

I think $cientology is hurting people and breaking the law, and I
want them to stop it. See http://www.scientology-lies.com for more.

Google's second e-mail to me

From: help@google.com
Subject: Re: Changes to your Google Adwords campaign [#203295]

Hello Kristi,

Thank you for your email.

My apologies for the confusion. We understand that you are not promoting
hate on your site. The email you received was not worded clearly. It
should have read: 

"At this time, we are not running ads for sites that advocate against an
individual, group or organization. We review ads on a case-by-case basis
and reserve the right to not run certain ads, or certain categories of
ads. Due to our current ads policy, we are unable to run your ad on
Google."

This policy does indeed apply to both AdWords and AdWords Select.

Again, please note that the decisions we make concerning advertising in no
way affect the search results we deliver. 

Please feel free to email us at adwords@google.com with further questions
or concerns. 

Sincerely,

The Google AdWords Team

My second reply to Google

From: Kristi Wachter 
To: help@google.com
Subject: Re: Changes to your Google Adwords campaign [#203295]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

However, I remain confused by your implementation of the stated policy. 
When was it created?

I ask because you DID run the exact same ad earlier this morning, and 
furthermore, after you refused my ad, I have seen ads appear at Google for 
the Democratic party, specifically advocating against the Republicans, and 
for DemocraticUnderground.com, whose Web site says, "Democratic 
Underground (DU) was founded on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2001, to 
protest the illegitimate presidency of George W. Bush ..." and "This 
website exists so our members and guests are assured that there are many 
others across the country who share their outrage at the unilateral, 
arrogant, and extreme right-wing approach taken by George W. Bush and his 
team, the conservative Republicans in Congress, and the five conservative 
partisans on the Supreme Court."
(http://www.democraticunderground.com/about.html).

The ads I'm referring to read as follows:

Democratic Underground
The top site on the web for people
who believe in democracy & freedom.
DemocraticUnderground.com

Enrongate & G.W. Bush
The right wing media is trying to
protect Bush, but he can't hide!
www.democrats.com/enron

Does Google not consider these sites to be "advocat[ing] against an 
individual, group or organization"?

Finally, I was unable to find the policy you mention in your Terms and 
Conditions. Has the policy been made public at the Google site? If not, 
why not?

Thanking you in advance for further clarification,


Kristi Wachter

Google's third e-mail to me

Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 10:20:03 -0800
From: adwords-support@google.com
Subject: Changes to your Google Adwords campaign

Hello Kristi Wachter,

We are not able to run the following ad(s) in Ad Group #1, of Campaign #2 you 
have created using the Google AdWords Select Advertising Program:

What Don't You Know?
Are there things Scientology didn't
tell you? Get the whole truth!
www.truthaboutscientology.com

Thank you for advertising on Google. At this time, we are not running ads for 
sites that advocate against any individual, group, or organization.  We review 
ads on a case-by-case basis and reserve the right to not run certain ads, or 
certain categories of ads. Due to 
our current ads policy, we are unable to run your ad on Google.  If you continue to 
run this type of ad, we will be unable to continue running any of your 
advertisements on Google.

Google believes strongly in freedom of expression and therefore offers broad 
access to content across the web without censoring results. 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.  Please note that the decisions we make concerning advertising in no 
way affect the search results we deliver. We will continue to show search 
results for this type of site.

Please feel free to email us at adwords-support@google.com if you have further 
questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

The Google AdWords Team

My third e-mail to Google

Hello,

The site listed in the ad below does not advocate against Scientology; it merely 
provides information.

What criteria do you use to determine "advocating against"?

Also, why do you run ads for sites that advocate against various organizations, 
such as the Republican Party?

Thank you in advance for your reply,

Kristi

Google's fourth e-mail to me

Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:57:04 -0000
From: adwords-support@google.com
Subject: Re: Changes to your Google Adwords campaign [#203295]

Hello Kristi,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. We very much appreciate your
patience and understanding.

Thank you for pointing out the political ads in question. They run
contrary to our advertising policy and they have been disapproved. Due to
the way our approval process workds, certain ads may run for a small
period time as we manually approve and disapprove them.

We have not yet posted our full policy on our site, however
we reserve the right to disapprove ads as per our Terms and Conditions.

Please feel free to email us at adwords@google.com with further questions
or concerns.

Sincerely,
The Google AdWords Team

Google's fifth e-mail to me

Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 05:50:01 -0000
From: adwords-support@google.com
Subject: Re: Changes to your Google Adwords campaign [#209767]

Hello Kristi,

Thank you for your email, your patience and understanding.

The purpose of Google's AdWords Select Program is to afford small
businesses an effective avenue for advertising their products and
services.  As stated before, we review ads on a case-by-case basis and
reserve the right to not run certain ads, or certain categories of ads.
Due to our current policy, we are unable to run your ad on Google.

I appreciate you bringing these other advertisers to our attention and I
have made sure that their ads are disapproved as well since they run
contrary to our current policy.

It merits repeating that Google believes strongly in freedom of expression
and therefore offers broad access to content across the web without
censoring results. 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.  Please note that
the decisions we make concerning advertising in no way affect the search
results we deliver. We will continue to show search results for sites
which advocate against individuals, groups or organizations.

We appreciate your comments on this issue, which will help inform our
future policy discussions.

Please feel free to email us at adwords@google.com with any further
questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

David
The Google AdWords Team

This page was last updated on March 31, 2002.