Publishers vs. the Censorbot

PUBLISHERS VS THE CENSORBOT
[SOURCE: East Bay Express, AUTHOR: Chris Thompson]
Google has entered that rarefied tier of corporations whose services or products are indispensable to American life. Its search engine is an essential tool for Internet users, and the ingenious way it matches advertisements to the contents of any given search has transformed the world of marketing. The company's second main product is AdSense, a service whereby it posts ads on thousands of Web sites and blogs in a revenue-sharing arrangement that finances much of the online media industry. But as more and more media outlets come to depend on Google, one of its key policies is quietly, systematically punishing ambitious journalism all over the Web. If this trend continues, Google's power and ubiquity could inadvertently cripple an independent press in the Internet era. in 2003, Google developed "sensitivity filters" to periodically scan the Web sites of its partners in search of violence, mature content, or other unacceptable material. "They detect sensitive content that we probably don't want to be showing advertising beside, and show public service announcements instead," says Shuman Ghosemajumder, Google's business product manager for trust and safety. Unfortunately, when Google withholds advertising it also withholds the accompanying revenue, cutting off money whenever Web sites publish stories it deems too violent or tragic. Regardless of how important a story may be, the company's algorithm pulls its advertising whenever it detects too much carnage. Asked if Google would display ads next to stories about the recent Israeli massacre of Lebanese children, for example, Ghosemajumder says, "That's an example of something that is very difficult to find sensitive advertising [for]."
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2006-08-02/news/cityofwarts_full.html