Thanks to the heroic efforts of GunUp and our stable of unpaid writers, TTAG is on track to break even in year three. Props to Google, whose search engine delivers just over half of our traffic. At the same time, a big raspberry to the big G, who bans firearms-related websites from its advertising affiliate network. Despite the march of progress on the Second Amendment front, the internet giant is expanding the ban. “Google announced to publishers late last month that the Google Affiliate Network will no longer collect or pay commissions on weapons-related merchandise,” mercurynews.com reports. What’s weapons-related merch you ask? Go figure. Meanwhile, how’s this for common sense gun control . . .
Google will partner-up with you for Adwords if your website is “promoting” stun guns, flare guns, antique and non-working firearms replicas and paintball guns. Hunting gear’s OK, but, as Ms. Heyser points out, the difference between a hunting knife and a kitchen knife is a camo handle. Or something like that. And you can use Google Adwords to sell firearms magazines, ’cause reading about them’s cool.
Google will tell you to pound sand if your site is “promoting” guns. Including but not limited to “pistols, rifles, BB guns, sporting guns, air guns, and blow guns.” Click here to read Google Adword’s “anti-violence” policy.
That’s us out. And how. Maybe someday someone somewhere will convince Google that the Second Amendment gave them to ability to do business. Period. Meanwhile, TTAG soldiers on. Wait; can I say that? [h/t to Tim Tritt]
People still use google? Heh.
Google-free searches for almost three years now.
Startpage.com
There is always the Amazon affiliates program… Perhaps firearm companies can directly reimburse web sites?
Bush-era map connecting google, Wall Street, and Washington
http://www.google-watch.org/bigbro.html
Scroogle provides use of the google search engine without requiring cookies, no search term records, and access log deleted within 48 hours.
http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm
Unless you like to pay googles electric bill, there is not reason you must use google. If you use Androd, I guess you are SOL
There is always Bing, which does not rank its searches by how much you pay BTW
There are plenty others: –> http://www.theopensite.com/marketing-business-promotion/alternative-search-engines-to-google/
I like DuckDuckGo myself
There are plenty of privacy reasons as well as the fact that Google likes to show you what will pay them more, so you are really not getting the real search all the time and they team up with companies that help suppress bad press items — like on politicians who are crooks.
If you try other search engines, you will see you will not miss google one bit!
DuckDuckGo is my primary search engine.
I gave Bing an honest chance when it came out – then I realized that the “results” were almost entirely ads for MS products and not what I was actually searching for, so I went back to Google.
This isn’t just about search – it is their Adwords/Adsense, etc… Google has a way you can add advertisements to a webpage, and if someone clicks-through to that partner, you can earn money. The search engine is not really relevant other than driving traffic TO your site.
Meh. Guck Foogle.
Google has the most miserable customer service of any company that I have had the displeasure of dealing with. There is NO support for their services and NO way to resolve issues and disputes.
One of my companies was banned from using their “places” service for an unknown reason. Considering that I had never used a Google service in the past, there was no way that I could have run afoul of their rules. There was no way of calling a representative or resolving the issue in any way.
A few years ago, G tried to market their own cell phone. They quickly found out that customers won’t buy a phone if they can’t get help or service. Only took a few months for that phone to disappear from the market.
Do no evil = Do no Google
Google never sold their own cell phone and that phone very much exists and the line is quite popular. Google merely allowed people to buy a particular model Android phone directly from them without a contract. The reason that it didn’t work is the carriers – only T-Mobile would give you a discount on your monthly plan for buying your phone outright, where the other carriers wanted you to still pay the subsidy fee even though there wasn’t a phone to subsidize.
Still, the Nexus line of phones (the one you were talking about) are quite popular and normally the best phone available.
Not that I am a conspiracy theorist,but this sort of thing sounds like the outcome of a closed doors meeting between the US Government & Google.The conversation sounded something like this id imagine;
“Hey Google,you would be the ideal candidate for a Sherman Antitrust Act lawsuit.Oh,you don’t want to spend 10 years in court you say?Well,we here in the government can help.All ya gotta do is change a few policies,starting with these on privacy and going on down the list….”
Id prefer that to the idea that Google’s business staff is just too hoplophobic to accept profit when they see it.This rule doesn’t even make business sense,as Starbucks proves supporting the 2nd Amendment can be a profitable policy.
I’d love to have an email where I could say that as a consumer of their services, I would like gun ads.
I’m not sure, but I think once I hit, oh, 10 billion dollars, I’d start to get a bit concerned about the peasants and their artillery. I’m not sure. They own YouTube, though, and that’s every beginner’s home shooting instructor. I still admire Peter Norvig, father professor to Page and Brin, so I’m going to give Google a chance. Maybe they just cut a deal with Brownell’s and Bud’s Guns? Push aside the little guy. Everybody does that, the unions, the banks, hot chicks. I’ll survive it.
Does that mean we are on the “G.U.N”, or “Google Unaffiliated Network”?
They should also include in their obviously well thought out list, “nail guns, glue guns, toy guns, baseball-game hot dog guns, pneumatic t-shirt launchers and Dennis the Menace-style sling shots”etc, etc. And why stop there? How about private citizens that own antique historical weaponry for posterity’s sake or lame pumpkin throwing contests, something like …uhhhh …. ancient siege machines. Yeah, thats the ticket!! Catapults should be banned, How about a trebuchet? Private citizens should not own any of these things!! These items are known to just go off when children are in close proximity!
Its funny because my site actually got approved for their affiliate network (and still is, in fact). I ran some of their ads for a while, but it was never really worth my time.
Its interesting to note that Cabelas and Sportsmans Guide are both part of their network, so it is a bit of hypocrisy as far as Google is concerned
You know what? Fuck Google. They’re neither as big nor as omnipresent as legend would have us believe. With their new, intrusive personal information collection policies they’re sinking even farther and faster…
Go Bing!!
You know what? The FINGER to Google. They’re neither as big nor as omnipresent as legend would have us believe. With their new, intrusive personal information collection policies they’re sinking even farther and faster…
Go Bing!!
You really think Microsoft doesn’t want to collect and sell your data as much as Google does?
Microsoft tends to go one of two ways, learning hard and expensive lessons and eventually cranking out something that works, or decades of mindless and generally amazing incompetence.
Bing, so far, looks to be the former.
Their machiavellian tendencies are generally limited to their own products and related market share. I doubt they particularly care what information they collect unless there’s a dollar sign attached to it.
So, does this extend to things like FPS Russia? Or is Google cool with all the YouTube hits?
Look up “guns” on Google, you get Gunbroker, Bud’s, etc. It’s not like they’re censoring gun-related results, they just don’t want to take money from gun dealers (although the point about Cabelas does kind of put the lie to that). I think they’re silly, but I don’t think it’s a sinister plot. They’re probably distracted by helping the Chinese government with censorship.
What flick is the image from?
This is Denise Richards from the modern classic “Blonde and Blonder.”
Yooper, I visited Marquette and Gwinn last year. Beautiful country, great people and the pasties from Crossroads were delicious.
You strolled right past my cabin, then… Or didn’t even come near, depending on who’s listening. Jean Kay’s for your next Pasty! With rutabaga. Try crossroads for Fish Fry next time. 😉 Glad you enjoyed the great white north.
Google sucks and I’m happy that the Chinese COMMIES screwed these fools when they tried to get a foot hold in COMMIELAND.
Believing that gun ads promote violence is like believing that an Oneida ad promotes obesity.
Well that stinks.
Google has been sending the MA based gun rights group that I work for a nice little check every month due to ads placed on our family of websites.
Might have to re-consider that now.
Take off the tinfoil and stop subjecting yourself to Bing, its terrible, just stop it.
If you are worried about Google targeted advertising, stop using the internet then, because their ads track you too. Its not a diabolical scheme, its a scheme to make relevant ads to make money.
Battle games is becoming pretty major seeing that the japanese features discussed the air-soft pistols with the rest on the planet. You might be ready to locate a precise replica of your respective preferred rifle in the airsoft edition. Just like any time paintball was launched, the new less hazardous…airsoft sniper rifles