Firemission - Google

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68wj

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According to Google, the tools of our hobbies here are considered prohibited to their new policies.
The following products are not allowed on Google Shopping:

Guns, ammunition and knives
Click to expand...
http://support.google.com/merchants/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2632553

As such, the online merchants that you support, and that provide economic legitimacy to the firearms industry, will not have a web presence. As Google is a business they have the right to do this, and also have the ability to see their error and change this course.

Google needs to hear a very strong opposition to their decision by:

Hearing from everyone: http://support.google.com/merchants/bin/request.py?contact_type=survey and https://www.google.com/quality_form?q=shopping&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=598&tbm=shop&prmd=imvnszrl

Discontinuing use of Google services if they continue to view us as a problem

We are a small group here, and it is imperative that if you agree that this is a problem YOU must also spread this information to others (social media, other forums, friends). Bump with additional links or feedback.
 
Checking a moment ago for the 22/45 using the Shopping pulldown showed a number of pistols from Buds and Grab-A-Gun.

Are we certain that this means that Google Shopping will no longer show available firearms or that this is something else? It doesn't make any sense that knives in general would be prohibited in Google's Shopping function so it raises questions.
 
I thought HSO might be overstating the issue but no such luck. According to Google shopping starting 07/01/12 :

What's the policy?

"Google AdWords doesn't allow the promotion of weapons or devices designed to cause serious harm or injury. The promotion of weapons includes guns, gun parts or hardware, ammunition, bombs, knives, throwing stars, and brass knuckles.

We've created this policy to comply with legal regulations."

:what:

it is more restrictive than you can even imagine:


http://support.google.com/adwordspo...opic=1310883&path=1308252-2585946&ctx=leftnav
 
That would be retarded. Although Google shopping isn't something worth using pretty shortly anyway, they are changing the results from relevance to paid advertisers (ie. you search for guns and the companies that pay the most to Google will show up first). I don't remember the source I read it but I think it was on consumerist.com.
 
hso said:
Checking a moment ago for the 22/45 using the Shopping pulldown showed a number of pistols from Buds and Grab-A-Gun.

Are we certain that this means that Google Shopping will no longer show available firearms or that this is something else? It doesn't make any sense that knives in general would be prohibited in Google's Shopping function so it raises questions.
Click to expand...
I don't know how it is being rolled out, but when I use my home PC, I get zero shopping results with broad terms like Armalite or Ruger. Even ammo with 6.8 SPC or 5.56 returns nothing. Magpul gave me a few hits.

From my work computer, which is connected through an IP in another state, I still seem to be functional. Google's effective date is 7/1/12.

I learned of the policy from an online store (Hamlund Tactical) who received an e-mail from Google that their items would not be included in future searches. Here is an excerpt from the email
We do not allow the promotion or sale of weapons and any related products such as ammunitions or accessory kits on Google Shopping. In order to comply with our new policies, please remove any weapon-related products from your data feed and then re-submit your feed in the Merchant Center.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the heads up, I filled out the surveys FWIW (probably not worth a plugged nickel, but you do what you can).
 
The Google Ad words program is NOT the same thing as Google Shopping. I'm not stating flat out that you guys are wrong, but I do strongly suspect that something is getting "lost in translation" here.
 
T Slothrop said:
The Google Ad words program is NOT the same thing as Google Shopping. I'm not stating flat out that you guys are wrong, but I do strongly suspect that something is getting "lost in translation" here.
Click to expand...
The link in the OP and later quote of an email from Google to an online shooting retailer pertain to Google Shopping specifically. AdWords' policy is almost a mirror too.

Google is too large and involved for this to not be noticed by anti-RTKBA organizations. It is a dangerous precedent.
 
Are we going to have a national boycott of Google?

What are the major pro gun sites and organizations saying about this?

Has the media picked up on this?
 
We can still find guns NOW because it doesn't take effect until the first of July.

It does clearly state



The following products are not allowed on Google Shopping:

Guns, ammunition, and knives
 
Boycotting Google and its other affiliates.

somone should write up a document to show how strong our voice is that translates to income for them, and if they block our way of life they will not receive such income.

I wounder how this will effect "googlies" search for gun shops, ffls, NRA instructors, reviews, forums, etc. will it transfer over to their search engine? or is it just addsand shopping part?
 
I started trying to boycott them as best I can last year (difficult to do with everything they have their hand in) because of how they are trying to monopolize the internet, spy on us during our daily lives, and where their campaign controbutions end up. Add this to the list of reasons.

I do find it odd that a large corporation would adopt such anti-gun polies when politically the tide has drastically turned to the pro 2nd Amendment side. It's just going to amount to bad PR.
 
While Google SHopping is not the same thing as Google AdWords, anyone selling on Google Shopping, must conform to the same policies set forth by Google AdWords.
 
Time for everyone to switch to "Bing", but I don't know how their policy is on guns and such either....

How is "Firefox"?
 
In complete honesty, and this is just my opinion, myself alone... I'm not going to be affected by this.

Google shopping results have NEVER shown me the best prices on knives or ammo (in fact, Amazon.com has always been much better on knives), and actually using Google's normal search engine has given me better prices and better deals, so that's probably what I'm going to keep doing. Google shopping was also broken in that it would show listings from gunbroker that had long since expired.

I just don't feel like they're taking away anything useful to me.
 
I don't mean to in any way discourage members' activism here, but it should be pointed out that Google Shopping is disallowing listings for many categories besides guns, ammunition and knives:

Services

Services are not allowed on Google Shopping.
Examples of listings disallowed:

Event tickets
Subscriptions, such as magazine subscriptions or any kind of service subscription.
Online courses

Other prohibited categories

The following products are not allowed on Google Shopping:

Vehicles
Guns, ammunition and knives
Tobacco and cigarettes
Traffic devices (Learn more)
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. (Note: The only products that are allowed to be submitted with a service plan are mobile devices.)
Click to expand...

There are a lot of things to not like about Google. While they probably are anti-2A, it's not clear that anti-2A views are to blame for Google Shopping policies, any more than anti-1A views. Is Google anti-1A because they don't allow event tickets (freedom of association) or magazine subscriptions (freedom of speech) to be listed on Google Shopping?

Is there more evidence to support an assertion of anti-2A bias on the part of Google? I would get behind a campaign to call for a change to their policies, but doing so without better evidence can undermine our credibility.*

* Mods, if this is out of bounds for Activism, I understand and apologize...just looking for clarification before taking action.
 
Mauser lover said:
How is "Firefox"?
Click to expand...

Firefox is a web browser, not a search engine. However, as a web browser, it is generally more secure and more stable than Internet Explorer.

I searched for best search engines and came up with a number of alternatives to Google. Will be trying them out. Also removed all the Google apps from my phone.

Sent Google feedback a short letter telling them why they won't be getting my clicks anymore. Remember, companies like Google make their money of ads. The value they charge for those ads is influenced by how many clicks their website gets. So, keeping using other Google items will keep money flowing to them. The more Google services you can drop for another provider, the more they will notice!

Someone asked about the media. At least some firearms blogs have taken up the story: http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/06/foghorn/google-censor-firearms-related-shopping-results/
 
Yeah, maybe there is something to this.

Yesterday a search for "Kimber" on www.google.com/shopping produced a bunch of hits. Not today.

Just tried searching "subscription" on www.google.com/shopping, plenty of hits on all kinds of magazines, newspapers, etc. Searching "Ford" gets a link to the main Ford website and lots of stuff for car parts, but no ads selling actual cars or trucks. "Concert tickets," lots still listed. Not sure where this is going really, but I think it stinks. I'm going to look at it again next week after the full policy is supposed to be effective.

If it's as bad as it seems on its face, of course we should flood them with feedback. But I think they will notice the effect of their actions more if they lose real business. Use a different search engine, especially when doing any kind of online shopping. If you do use google for something, NEVER click on an ad. Type the URL for the merchant directly into the address bar. And not just for gun stuff, but for ALL stuff.
 
I posted this in the other thread that was closed:
Google was my home page for years until about a month or two ago when they made a stand for something going on in California that I thought they had no reason getting involved in.

It was then that I changed my search engine to Bing.

I'm sure when they see their numbers going down, and a direct correlation in time between when they did 'thus-&-so' and suddenly the hits to their site drop, they will hopefully get the message!

It is not 'rocket-science' to realize that when they make a change and then immediately see the hits drop to their site activity, maybe they should have left well-enough alone.
 
You have to tell a business why you're not putting money in their pocket anymore if you want to affect a change in their policies.

Tell them that you might find that you like the competitor's product better once you get used to it and that it might not be worth the trouble to change back.

Tell them that you're going to encourage others to do the same.
 
You can still search on Bing for firearms.

Dang, Google upsets me, and I really liked them for many years.
Like anything else that gets to big, it starts to eat our souls.

We probably represent like 1% of traffic for domestic firearm sales at best. They dont care about 1% financially when they are increasing profits x amount on the other 99%!

It all comes down the the $$$$$$:banghead:
 
I could still search firearms in Google until about 30 minutes ago.

I sent this to Google:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I recently saw an internet posting which indicated that Google will no longer allow advertising for firearms. In researching the issue, I found the following language in your policies:

"The following products are not allowed on Google Shopping:

•Vehicles
•Guns, ammunition and knives
•Tobacco and cigarettes"

As an avid hunter and shooter, I have often used Google Shopping to research various firearms and ammunition. As of approximately thirty minutes ago, I find that I can no longer do so.

I find it unsettling, to say the least, that I can find books on how to grow marijuana, an illegal activity, on Google, but am unable to find any information on shopping for a firearm or ammunition, a legal activity.

Unless and until Google changes this policy, I will run each and every internet search that I do through some other search engine.
Click to expand...
 
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