Google, Abortion, and the good old US of A

It’s not often that I see something in the news that makes me think that a liberal (possibly communist company like Google does the right thing. Fortunately (I think), this is a good for us, bad for you example. For quite some time, Google ads have generated a ton of money for their company by placing advertisements next to the items that are searched for. For instance, if you were to go to Google.com and search for “fish tank” you’ll likely get something like this:

It’s based on your location by your IP address and they can find regional and specific things for what you’re searching for. It’s a great idea and it works very well. You can give people what they are looking for and, for a fee, you can make sure that your paid sponsors are able to keep their content on top. This is how it works for them throughout the world on each of their many varied servers. See how it works in the UK?

Unfortunately, Google doesn’t really stick to that practice when it comes to things that they have problems with. Abortion, for example. What happens when you want to put a notice up about support for those who have had abortions or for people who are in trouble and seeking help? Apparently, if you’re in the UK, you’re screwed! Google is now getting sued in by a non-profit Christian group in the UK because they refused to place their ads, using the same process detailed above, next to the results on the word “abortion”. The Daily Mail is carrying this story and it looks like a standard “you’re not giving me what I want so I’m going to sue you” case but on further investigation there’s a lot more behind this.

The Christian Institute, a “non-denominational Christian charity”, wanted to pay Google so that whenever the word “abortion” was typed into the popular search engine, its link would appear on the side of the screen.The link would have read: “UK abortion law - news and views on abortion from the Christian Institute. www.christian.org.uk.”

But Google refused the advert because it said it had a policy of declining sites which mixed the issue of abortion with religious views.

Its Dublin-based advertising team replied: “At this time, Google policy does not permit the advertisement of websites that contain ‘abortion and religion-related content’.”

Google does, however, accept adverts for abortion clinics, secular pro-abortion sites and secularist sites which attack religion.

~ Daily Mail :: Emphasis mine

That’s when I decided to see what they meant by “Google does, however, accept adverts for abortion clinics, secular pro-abortion sites and secularist sites which attack religion” so did a little digging and here’s what I came up with:

Googling “Abortion” in the US I get the following:

It’s fair and balanced; one site to help those who are searching and the other is an abomination from hell.

Now, in the UK:

… huh? A provider, a financier, and a link to feed your lust? Remember, these aren’t RANDOM - you have to PAY for each item you are searched under. Someone actually PAID MONEY to have their company show up for CASH LOANS when you’re looking for ABORTIONS! Worse is the sick freak who thought people were looking to get off on abortions. What kind of people live in the UK?

Next, I thought I’d give it a go at searching “religion”. Here it is in the good old US of A:

This actually warms my heart. I didn’t think I’d see this at all. All in all I’m very pleased!

Here’s the result for the UK:

Y’all are off my “visit” list. Seriously. Buy “religion”? “Scientology”? To quote great preacher on a completely unrelated topic, “Are you kidding me?”

After reading this, there are a couple things that come to mind. First is that, as Christians we know that we are only promised persecution and troubles if are sold out to Christ and that our gain comes in the life to come but the other thing that I think about is that the UK is often leading us by only a short scale in public policy. If this passes as acceptable for them, how long before it passes here? Are we only one bill away? If Google won’t post the picture, I will. Here you go, Christian Institute and keep fighting the good fight!

God bless America. Not as a song title or an idea but as a real command. God has given a lot for us thus far, why can’t we acknowledge that and turn back to Him?

This entry was posted on April 9, 2008 at 7:54 pm and is filed under Technology, Ian, Religion, Pointless Lawsuits, Coherent Thoughts, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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