Flying in the face of its own ad acceptance history, Google has refused to accept an ad from the Northeast Impeachment Coalition and YaliesForImpeachement.org which calls for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. Writing on Daily Kos, Ralph Lopez reports Google explained its denial of the ad in an email which read, in part,”At this time, Google policy does not permit ad text that advocates against an individual, group, or organization. In addition, this policy does not permit the advertisement of websites that advocate against a group protected by law.”
Directly conflicting with that statement are ads currently running on Google that do, in fact, relate to the impeachment of Cheney along with ads that call for the impeachment of President Bush, anti-Bush t-shirts and other ads that run counter to the statement regarding Google’s policy against accepting ads which “advocate against a group protected by law.”
The ad in question reads:
Help Impeach Cheney NOW
Nonpartisan, the time is here.
House JC 202-225-3951 Demand ACTION
A currently running ad that mentions impeachment and Cheney reads:
Impeachment of Cheney
Better World Links
Informations & Resources
www.betterworldlinks.org
Though the above ad does mention Cheney and impeachment, it’s important to note it’s just a keyword play to promote something entirely unrelated. However, there have been many ads that do call for the impeachment of President Bush as well as as that do advocate against certain political figures or organizations. Other currently running ads can be seen here.
Whether Google’s refusal to accept the ad was a one-off mistake or part of a larger. perhaps unwritten, position against certain forms of political advertising we may never know. Historically, Google doesn’t usually offer much detail explaining itself in situations similar to this.
While it may seem pointless to call for the impeachment of Dick Cheney when he’ll be out of office soon anyway, it does seem odd Google would refuse this ad when, in the past, it has accepted many very similar political ads. Of course, it’s the right of any media property to accept or deny any ad it deems unworthy of publication for any reason it chooses to give, but this denial seems to run counter to the company’s history of political ad acceptance and is bound to raise the ire of those in certain political circles including those in the general advertising industry who, on a daily basis, attempt adhere logic to the more-than-occasionally-illogical doings of the online (and offline) giant.
