Comments

1. Eric Frenchman, September 4, 2008:

   Google isn’t suppressing ads, but you need to know what you are doing and have some money to spend.

2. Alan Rimm-Kaufman, September 4, 2008:

   Eric —

   As I write this, I see only one single ad on Palin’s name, an ad from the McCain-Palin campaign itself.

   Surely you aren’t suggesting that the campaign is the only entity to have considered running Adwords ads on “Palin”, or that the campaign is the only entity that knows what it is doing and has money to spend?

   I’d wager 100s of advertisers have put in reasonable ads on her name, w/ reasonable copy and dest urls and bids.

   IMHO, G is opting only to run the “official” ad to avoid controversy.

   I’m glad G suppresses the sleaze, but where are the ads from reputable merchants (buttons, tshirts, etc)?

   What about PACs and such?

   Again, my firm’s focus is retail. Our experience w/ Google editorial overrides has been in the area of trademark.

   Seeing the bare page on one of the most heavily searched terms this week just makes me wonder if they’ve published their political editorial policies, or whether they just make the decisions case-by-case. The power to influence the debate by allowing or disallowing PAC ads on her name is significant, me thinks.

   Thanks for the comment –

   Alan

3. Eric Frenchman, September 14, 2008:

   Well Alan,

   I was the first one to run ads on her name. I know what the minimum bids were and what kind of quality score was needed to get a decent CPC. Google was NOT suppressing advertisers. Surely you have seen situations of a keyword with little history on it that Google automatically pushed the minimum bid to $5?

   I have the bid history and email exchanges with Google. Please stop spreading rumors based on opinions and wild guesses that Google is somehow protecting Sarah Palin from advertisers (btw - there has been Obama ads running against the keyword).

   Eric

4. Peggy McGilligan, September 22, 2008:

   It isn’t just the ads, it’s the blogs. Type in Sarah Palin, the date, and you won’t get what you got a week or two ago. Fact is, Ms. Palin is being “cleansed” from the Internet. You’ll see page after page of negative posts. And, the posts aren’t even current. Yahoo is more of the same. Here’s a “wildly popular” woman, who I’ve heard described as a combination of the girl next-door, Ms. Right, and “the one that got away,” running for high political office and … we’re seeing outdated rants. Well, the best credential for governing is that the candidate possesses the will of the people. I think Sarah Palin’s got it, you’re just not supposed to know: http://theseedsof9-11.com

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