FC: Gagged by Google? Body Shop founder protests blog ad deletion

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[I agree with the estimable St. Clair. A few thoughts: (1) Google's 
advertising policy is unquestionably silly and short-sighted. (2) But Anita 
Roddick knew or should have known that when she signed the contract to 
advertise her blog. Complaining that her ads were yanked after she agreed 
to the contract is a little like complaining that your home was foreclosed 
on after you didn't pay your mortgage. (3) The practical effects of 
Google's ad-word policy are also well known 
(http://www.politechbot.com/p-03260.html). (4) In addition to excellent 
content, which Laura Flanders mentions below, good uptime is essential. As 
I write this, www.anitaroddick.com is offline. --Declan]

---

Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 08:47:12 -0700
From: "Jeffrey St. Clair" <sitka () attbi com>
To: CP List <counterpunch-list () counterpunch org>,
        Dave Marsh <marsh6 () optonline net>, David Vest <davidvest () attbi com>,
        Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Subject: Gagged by Google
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x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-UIDL: b4ab2532ea6face2ccd2a8873de81288

[it's silly on google's part. but is it really censorship to reject an
ad? the peeved roddick begins to sound like Mitch McConnell on campaign
finance. moreover, here's laura's fine story about the affair, giving it
much more attention that it would have otherwise engendered, which
appears ONLY on the....yes....Internet.--jsc]

Laura Flanders <WorkingForChange.com> 05.30.02
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Gagged by Google Body Shop founder censored by search engine

Media activists have a lot to put up with these days. Not
only is there more to complain about than ever when it comes
to the timidity and lap-doggishness of most journalists _
not to mention the shrinking spectrum of views that get
aired _ but, in addition, there are the cliches one has to
contend with. The one that peeves me most right now is the
one about the glories of the Internet.

According to the oft-repeated mantra, those who have a
problem with the networks, the cable channels, the
newspapers and Clear Channel radio, have their own outlet
now _ it's the World Wide Web.

I heard this argument most recently in Charlottesville at
the University of Virginia from a co-panelist at a public
forum, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA),Co-Chairman of the
Congressional Internet Caucus.

You've got the Internet, you've got the Internet. The
Representative said it so often that finally I proposed a
trade: let Disney, Viacom, GE and AOL/TIME Warner take the
Internet, I suggested. We'll give it to them _ in exchange
for the broadcast television networks, cable, publishing and
Hollywood. The Congressman said it was an idea he hadn't
heard before. Indeed.

The World Wide Web is a fabulous phenomenon. It's fantastic
for getting news out that can be spread no other way, but is
it the answer to the media-related prayers of social change
activists? Hardly, as Anita Roddick found out this month.

Roddick is the founder of the Body Shop, the notable
socially-responsible health-and-beauty store chain. She
resigned as co-chair of the company this February to
dedicate herself to activism full-time. Roddick has lots to
say (she recently edited a book called Take it Personally,
it's out now from Harper Collins) and she keeps a
politically-oriented "blog" (or Web log). Driving major
traffic to one's site is almost impossible without
advertising or good search engine placement, as bloggers
know. Roddick advertised on the popular Google engine _ or
did until they took exception to what she had to say.

It began when Roddick posted a short comment on her site
about actor John Malkovich's public threat to shoot Scottish
Member of Parliament George Galloway and Independent
reporter Robert Fisk. (Malkovich railed against critics of
Israel at a high-profile speech at Cambridge University.)

"John Malkovich often plays disturbed and dangerous men in
his films," wrote Roddick, "maybe he's not acting. His
threat to shoot Robert Fisk for his honest reportage on
Israel is but further evidence that Malkovich is a vomitous
worm."

"Vomitous worm" didn't go down well with Google. Shortly
after Roddick made the comment, she got word that the
advertising staff at the search engine were suspending her
ad campaign. "They said that my ad violated their editorial
policy against 'sites that advocate against groups or
individuals,'" writes Roddick.

Apparently Google saw no irony in the text of the ad they
pulled. It read: "<AnitaRoddick.com:> Uncensored."

By this logic, points out Roddick, "no one could advertise
who maligned any human being, be it Stalin, Hitler or even
Bin Laden." She could have added "George W. Bush" to the
list.

When Roddick's website editor spoke to the Google team about
their policy, they told her they do not accept ads for sites
with any political content that could be perceived as "anti"
anything. It'd be funny, and it's riduculous on its face,
but Roddick's ads have in fact, been pulled.

"I am virtually invisible," says Roddick. Actually, the
former CEO's visibility is hard to suppress, but the lesson
should sober up bloggers everywhere.

Big media are happy to sell their critics the crumbs that
fall from the corporate table. Blog away, be happy, they
tell the activists. But far from a free-speech paradise, the
Internet is fast becoming the next corporate-controlled
universe, going the way of cable TV or publishing. As long
as censors operate as gatekeepers, dissenters can speak all
they like _ but they won't be heard.

Journalist Laura Flanders is the host of Working Assets
Radio and author of "Real Majority, Media Minority: The Cost
of Sidelining Women in Reporting." Her Spin Doctor Laura
columns appear weekly on WorkingForChange. You can contact
her at <laura () lauraflanders com> To respond to this article,
report a problem or provide general feedback to the editors
of this site, click here.




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