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Google Goofed

Shadow Bear

Michigan Moderator
Joined
Dec 17, 2010
Messages
1,004
Location
Grand Rapids
Just Googled 'm16 for sale' and found plenty of listings. Obviously, their 'censorship' is substandard.

About 3,580,000 results (0.15 seconds)

'full auto m16 for sale' also worked...

What am I missing?
 

scot623

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
1,421
Location
Eastpointe, Michigan, USA
It's the subcategory of "Google Marketplace" that censors firearm/ammunition sales. This is the category you would use when you only want retailers to appear.
 

Shadow Bear

Michigan Moderator
Joined
Dec 17, 2010
Messages
1,004
Location
Grand Rapids
It's the subcategory of "Google Marketplace" that censors firearm/ammunition sales. This is the category you would use when you only want retailers to appear.

Their store, their rules? Isn't that a bit like getting pissed at the flower shop for not carrying guns? Or, is there something more insidious here?
 

autosurgeon

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2008
Messages
3,831
Location
Lawrence, Michigan, United States
This is directly related to the lawsuits they settled after Virginia Tech. Google said at that time that changes would come when they changed their shopping system from an aggregator to a store. I am sure their attorneys said "now that you are actually listing the items and processing the payments you will have greater liability and we suggest you limit that" Now do I know for sure that is what happened? No however I know that is how corporate risk analysis is done.
 

Shadow Bear

Michigan Moderator
Joined
Dec 17, 2010
Messages
1,004
Location
Grand Rapids
If people REALLY wanted to get pissed at Google, they should understand how the search rankings are calculated.

If you think the ratings reflect anything much other than the amount of money the web sites spent on advertising with Google, you are sadly mistaken.

Of course, they're all that way....
 

stainless1911

Banned
Joined
Dec 19, 2009
Messages
8,855
Location
Davisburg, Michigan, United States
This is directly related to the lawsuits they settled after Virginia Tech. Google said at that time that changes would come when they changed their shopping system from an aggregator to a store. I am sure their attorneys said "now that you are actually listing the items and processing the payments you will have greater liability and we suggest you limit that" Now do I know for sure that is what happened? No however I know that is how corporate risk analysis is done.

So the shooting was googles fault? That was very big of them to own up to the responsibility.
 

Shadow Bear

Michigan Moderator
Joined
Dec 17, 2010
Messages
1,004
Location
Grand Rapids
Of course it wasn't but when has that ever stopped a lawsuit? They saw the handwriting on the wall and didn't want the publicity so they settled.

If I get outgunned in a SD encounter because I didn't have enough loaded mags, I'm suing Google for making it difficult to obtain sufficient weaponry and such. Wonder how that would play?:uhoh:
 

VW_Factor

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Messages
1,092
Location
Leesburg, GA
Just Googled 'm16 for sale' and found plenty of listings. Obviously, their 'censorship' is substandard.

About 3,580,000 results (0.15 seconds)

'full auto m16 for sale' also worked...

What am I missing?

Google shopping has gone commercialized.

You can no longer get firearm "shopping" results. The standard search engine remains the same however.

People are blowing it out of proportion IMO.

Bing still doesn't have the search power of Google.
 

Super Trucker

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2010
Messages
263
Location
Wayne County, MI.
Their store, their rules? Isn't that a bit like getting pissed at the flower shop for not carrying guns? Or, is there something more insidious here?


Have you ever wondered why some gun forums do not have a for sale section?
Have you ever tried to buy advertising from google for a firearm related business?
 

Manzanita

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Messages
37
Location
Murray, Kentucky, USA
Bing still doesn't have the search power of Google.

I tried switching to Bing in Firefox (because of the whole google/guns thing). Used it for a few days and, as much as I hate to admit it, I went back to google.

Bing has great maps. Their satellite pictures of my area are much more detailed than google (although that may be a bad thing... heh). Otherwise, I've been disappointed in Bing. I don't recall what all I've searched for this past week but I remember a few times being frustrated with what I found, switching temporarily back to google, and finding much more.

I will use Bing for shopping, though. I'm sure google doesn't care either way but... hey... army of Davids.
 
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