Google is now your parent

Google will no longer take my business to advertise through their "Adwords" department. I had previously advertised with them for a couple of years. In the summer of 2010, I renewed my campaign (by paying for more ads to run). Soon after, Google notified that they wouldn't take my business. (Interesting how they took my money first, and asked questions later.)

Turns out, they now have a policy of not allowing ads for any site related to gambling, no matter how remotely.

Fine, I'm all for businesses having a right of self-determination. They should be able to do as they please, so long as they are within the law. However, with Google being the current top influence on Internet culture, and rapidly expanding its reach into such things as corporate and university email system operation, I feel more than a little creeped out by their actions.

First of all, Google is world-wide. Many businesses advertising with them are seeking potential customers the world over. That is the case with my business. Google arbitrarily decides that because money transfers for the purposes of online gambling are against the law in the US, suddenly nothing even remotely related to gambling is kosher within the US.

Note the italics above - online gambling is not illegal in the US - just money transfers to offshore gambling sites. Cowardly politicians stuck this absurdity into the "Safe Ports Act" of 2006 at the last minute.

The chilling effect of this law has been US corporations living in fear of anything related to gambling, all because a bill that is ostensibly terrorism-related touches on the subject. Well, who's going to speak up against anything that fights terrorism? Now we just have to suck on it.

It's amazing. One entire US state pretty much exists on gambling proceeds, including sports gambling. However, Google is not okay with advertising a site that sells gambling advice to Nevadans, or Americans visiting Nevada.

Also consider, people all over the world are free to transfer money to online gambling sites. It's ONLY Americans who have their freedoms in this regard restricted by their government. Whether or not you gamble, are you okay with Americans being the least free people in the world in this respect? Just like they won't stand up to the Chinese government in matters of freedom, Google is weak-kneed in dealing with perfectly legal American businesses.

Finally (and this is my real point here), experiment with Google's image search feature. Google's servers are the world's largest repository of images portraying sex and violence. That in and of itself is not a problem for me, but if you look into it just a little, you'll soon realize the images they store go far beyond the usual bounds of "decency." Google houses all sorts of horrible images, ranging from animal cruelty to child pornography.

But they're going to stifle my business for some ill-defined political morality?

I wonder if the World Trade Organization would take an interest in my plight the way they have regarding The United States' persecution of Antigua over internet gambling issues.

Puritans of all stripes really need to get off their high horses. What's the big deal?

February, 2011 update: Lately Google Adwords has been spamming me with offers. So typical of an entity out of control - treat people like garbage, then forget about it and add you to their spam rolls.