View Full Version : Google filtering gun shopping searches
Anyone else heard of this? I wonder why the sudden change? Kind of pay pal of them isn't it?
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/06/28/google-shopping-to-censor-all-gun-ammo-accessories-results/
Anyone else heard of this? I wonder why the sudden change? Kind of pay pal of them isn't it?
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/06/28/google-shopping-to-censor-all-gun-ammo-accessories-results/
Nothing new
http://www.eguns.com/google/google.html
(that is a post I made 11 years ago on my OLD OLD website)
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I see. So they have been that way for awhile. I guess I spend all my time in just a few places so I don't need to search. I never noticed. Thank you
Their general attitude is not new. Applying it to fro ogle (google shopping now I believe) is a new application of their anti-gunness so in that case it is "new" but Google has been this way since forever.
A general boycott is in order. Gentlemen, find yourselves a different search engine
http://www.bing.com/
http://www.altavista.com/
GeorgiaBoy
06-28-12, 21:12
Who cares. It's a private company making their own decisions.
Belmont31R
06-28-12, 21:21
Who cares. It's a private company making their own decisions.
Yep. Google is not a public utility.
Moose-Knuckle
06-28-12, 21:31
Not to mention MASSIVE data mining for NSA. . .:eek:
I need to find me a new email account provider.
I feel you on the private company doing their own thing. It just saddens me a little. I've always felt that google was a great asset and any person in the military will tell you that its a lifeline for shit you don't know. Wish they were perfect.
GeorgiaBoy
06-28-12, 22:12
All I'm saying is that Google, as a private company (and by private I am referring to non-government affiliation, not their ownership), has their rights to make whatever changes they want to their policies.
They could restrict just about anything on their shopping site. And I guarantee you guns aren't the only thing they have policies against now.. And I also guarantee its more of a legal rather than political standpoint.
A general boycott is in order. Gentlemen, find yourselves a different search engine
Bing.
Yep. Google is not a public utility.
So? No one was calling for any legal repercussions or anything (at least here).
Being a private company does not mean we have to like their decisions.
At least in this discussion, this is irrelevant.
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Who cares. It's a private company making their own decisions.
So? your point?
Being a private company does not mean we cannot care about this issue.
All I'm saying is that Google, as a private company (and by private I am referring to non-government affiliation, not their ownership), has their rights to make whatever changes they want to their policies.
They could restrict just about anything on their shopping site. And I guarantee you guns aren't the only thing they have policies against now.. And I also guarantee its more of a legal rather than political standpoint.
No one is disputing this (private company can do what they want). Irrelevant to this discussion.
However, you'd probably be wrong on it being legal versus political. There is no legal issue with advertising things like Aimpoints and stuff. Or even ammo or (gasp) even firearms.
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So? your point?
Being a private company does not mean we cannot care about this issue.
No one is disputing this (private company can do what they want). Irrelevant to this discussion.
However, you'd probably be wrong on it being legal versus political. There is no legal issue with advertising things like Aimpoints and stuff. Or even ammo or (gasp) even firearms.
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This is basically my issue. An American company doesn't for reasons unknown doesn't support arms. I know that google is far from the only one but its basically a point that they are too good for it. Its disappointing that Americans in general have come so far away from the second amendment. A hundred years ago it was socially acceptable to own at least one firearm with not much opposition from anyone. Now people who should just realize that are so blind to the issues want to blame high crime rates on firearms and paint us as bubbas. I'm also sure that the majority of criminals are not using google to seek black market firearms and accessories. Granted their are bad apples out there but google I'm sure gas alot larger problems. My opinion only.
Are any of the search engines gun friendly or atleast gun neutral?
GeorgiaBoy
06-29-12, 00:51
So? your point?
Being a private company does not mean we cannot care about this issue.
No one is disputing this (private company can do what they want). Irrelevant to this discussion.
However, you'd probably be wrong on it being legal versus political. There is no legal issue with advertising things like Aimpoints and stuff. Or even ammo or (gasp) even firearms.
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But do you really care? Are you actually going to never use Google again until they reverse their policies against guns/gun accessories?
I've used Google for years, and it is nearly my exclusive search engine. Unlike other search engines, its the most simple and non-cluttered interface to use for searching. I occasionally use Google Shopping for price comparisons, but not very often. Besides, AFIK, merchants have to let Google be able to gather the prices, which is why alot of company's products/prices will not show up. I'm not going to stop using it just because they've changed THEIR policies.
All this "boycott" stuff just gets silly and old. Google isn't going to lose any customers over this. They are a multinational company over a TRILLION searches each year. You're refusal to use their search engine isn't going to force them to repeal their policies - they'll do that own their own terms.
If you get 50 million people to write a petition, or flood them with real mail, maybe you'll get a response. But a bit of internet blah and some mild dissent isn't going to make them do anything.
Here are a list of other things that aren't allowed on Google Shopping:
Event tickets
Subscriptions, such as magazine subscriptions or any kind of service subscription.
Online courses
Tobacco and cigarettes
Traffic devices
Products related to casino and gambling
Products or digital goods that require additional software installation in order to be purchased.
Products bundled with service plans.
Are you going to boycott Google because they ban those items/services as well? I'm kind of disappointed I can't compare car prices on Google.. or Roulette wheels.
But do you really care? Are you actually going to never use Google again until they reverse their policies against guns/gun accessories?
I've already stopped using Google for most things, long ago. And their anti-gun policies are one major factor in that decision. [notice the post I made earlier where Google said they would not allow my AdWords advertising for reloading presses was in 2001.] That was the only reason at first, but I got lazy after a while and Google started to sneak in more to what I was doing, but another factor arose, namely, Google being the new Microsoft, so, combined with the gun-issue, I made a concerted effort some time ago to stop using Google as much as possible. On most of my devices, I have switched my default search engine to Bing, which for most things, works about as well. Occasionally, for some super technical searches, I will use Google if I don't find what I need with Bing.
So, yes, I do care, and I have mostly stopped using Google.
I have a GMail account. I almost never use it. I only got it because I needed to test some stuff and have an outside email account to test it with and lots of my customers in my hosting business had GMail so it made it convenient for them to email me in the event there was a problem and my email servers were not up and running (I also used an @me.com account for that same purpose). I have sent maybe 10 mails myself through GMail in the last many years. A consulting company I do work through gave me an account in their domain. It is hosted by Google, unfortunately. So I do use that as I have to.
I just don't care for Google, and try to avoid them in most things I do, if at all possible, and one of the motivating factors was their gun-attitude.
I've used Google for years, and it is nearly my exclusive search engine. Unlike other search engines, its the most simple and non-cluttered interface to use for searching. I occasionally use Google Shopping for price comparisons, but not very often. Besides, AFIK, merchants have to let Google be able to gather the prices, which is why alot of company's products/prices will not show up.
Actually, I believe that Google Shopping was the old Froogle service. To get your stuff on that service, you SUBMITTED your data in specific formats for them to use. None of that data comes from crawling. It is all submitted by the merchants.
I'm not going to stop using it just because they've changed THEIR policies.
All this "boycott" stuff just gets silly and old. Google isn't going to lose any customers over this. They are a multinational company over a TRILLION searches each year. You're refusal to use their search engine isn't going to force them to repeal their policies - they'll do that own their own terms.
If you get 50 million people to write a petition, or flood them with real mail, maybe you'll get a response. But a bit of internet blah and some mild dissent isn't going to make them do anything.
Here are a list of other things that aren't allowed on Google Shopping:
Event tickets
Subscriptions, such as magazine subscriptions or any kind of service subscription.
Online courses
Tobacco and cigarettes
Traffic devices
Products related to casino and gambling
Products or digital goods that require additional software installation in order to be purchased.
Products bundled with service plans.
Are you going to boycott Google because they ban those items/services as well? I'm kind of disappointed I can't compare car prices on Google.. or Roulette wheels.
Their policies with regards to other products is irrelevant. Why should I boycott Google because they don't allow "traffic devices" or whatever. I don't care about traffic devices.
But Boycotts are not stupid. They incrementally DO harm the offending company, even if the company does not notice the specific action. It may be chump change, but all that chump change adds up in the end to something measurable. They may not realize it, but they probably get $6 less a year because of me (or whatever their per-user average revenue is). You may laugh at $6, but $6 is $6. And if I am not the only one, it adds up. It may not be millions of dollars, but it is still an incremental harm. (The same way that getting millions more users incrementally helps them).
And they allow me to use those services that I want to use and feel like supporting. You are free to use Google if you want. I try not to because I don't believe in the same things they believe in and they are actively trying to thwart the things I believe in (free commerce of gun items).
GeorgiaBoy
06-29-12, 01:34
Funny how when I wrote that post, I had the strongest feeling you weren't going to be a Google user. :blink:
Funny how when I wrote that post, I had the strongest feeling you weren't going to be a Google user. :blink:
Not any more, but I used to be.
I get along fine with as little Google in my life as possible.
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Re: Boycott,
It's not that it'll accomplish anything. It's the principle of the matter, and it makes me feel good about myself.
I've boycotted Dominos because they fired a delivery driver that survived an attempted robbery by pulling out his ccw. And because their pizza tastes like cat piss soaked cardboard with spoiled milk poured over the top
None of this has stopped the targeted advertising I get via Gmail, which is why I use and like google utilities - good advertising adds to content in my book, and since I still get ads for places like Mile High Shooting Accessories and Southwest Ammo, I'm happy.
There was mention that the Google Shopping site was becoming a commercial site, so this is probably a liability justified thing in their minds, same way eGay inc. went about that.
I don't have any boycott of google in my mind. To me they still offer so much more than advert for firearms. Like I said I already know where to look for the deals anyway and google shopping never was high on that list anyway. I would just like to see a more right internet power house to keep us more established in that sense.
Not to mention MASSIVE data mining for NSA. . .:eek:
They ALL probably are.
NO information is secure from them anyway.
But I hear ya: what is known is known and responsibility is then required. Kinda like ALL social media (FB, ...).
VooDoo6Actual
07-03-12, 12:06
https://www.ixquick.com/
MAC users will have to install Glim software for Safari capability FYI.
easy day no drama.
Not quite sure what Google is trying to prevent. I don't generally use Google, so as a test, I got on their main search page and typed in three search requests - M4Carbine (for a gun forum), Ammunition To Go (for ammo purchases) and Gun Broker (for gun purchases).
All three came back with good links to these three sites.
What are they doing that is anit-gun?
Not quite sure what Google is trying to prevent. I don't generally use Google, so as a test, I got on their main search page and typed in three search requests - M4Carbine (for a gun forum), Ammunition To Go (for ammo purchases) and Gun Broker (for gun purchases).
All three came back with good links to these three sites.
What are they doing that is anit-gun?
Read the OP
It is not the search results, it is the Google Shopping service we are talking about.
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I did read the OP. I guess I don't unbderstand. Aren't they the same thing?
I did read the OP. I guess I don't unbderstand. Aren't they the same thing?
The native search results are different. Google also has their own "directory" of items that merchants can upload their inventories to and Google will display those items separately from the native search results (which Google gets from crawling the site).
I believe that the Google Shopping stuff is under "Shopping Results" that shows near the top and is a separate sort of format compared to the normal results.
The upshot is that Google will no longer accept the Google Shopping uploads from the merchants for firearms related item (used to be called Froogle, btw, IIRC). You can still see them on some search terms so they seem to not have purged all items from their existing databases or their automated system is easy enough to bypass or something.
But no, Google Shopping results are not the same as the native search results.
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Thanks for your help, but I still don't understand. Doesn't really matter - I'm not the OP, I'm not a merchant, and I don't use Google (mainly for their big brother attitude).
I'm not exactly computer illiterate, but what you just posted went right over my head. Oh, well.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/07/06/google-relents-gun-ammo-shopping-results-are-back/
It seems that someone was pressuring Google to maybe consider a change of heart.
Not too sure about it. I just did a search and came up with nothing.
well I went to their Shopping and typed in Ammo to go it came back No matches But right below that was a link for ammo to go clicked it and straight to the site :confused:
I think is is more organizational and technical at this point than policy. The policy has been set, but existing data in their database has not been purged as of yet, and their technical screening may not be up to snuff, yet.
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