October 8, 2020

I've discontinued Google AdSense ads.

 Email received today from Google was the last straw for me:

In the last 24 hours: 
New violations were detected. As a result, ad serving has been restricted or disabled on pages where these violations of the AdSense Program Policies were found. To resolve the issues, you can either remove the violating content and request a review, or remove the ad code from the violating pages. 
4 pages were reviewed at your request and found to be non-compliant with our policies at the time of the review. Ad serving continues to be restricted or disabled on those pages.

I'm tired of checking to see what's supposedly a violation. I get so many of these and they're often posts that are nothing but a quote from a commentator in the NYT. But to see that the review didn't okay these pages... it's just mind-bending. I can't waste my energy dealing with this bullshit. In every case, I'm told that I've violated their policy with "Dangerous or derogatory content," which I find insulting. Here are recent posts that have been found in violation of that policy — even after review: 

"In a disturbing number of the recent cases of the police being called on black people for doing everyday, mundane things, the calls have been initiated by white women" — the post title is a quote from NYT columnist Charles Blow and the post is only a quote from Blow! 

"'Take the Shutdown Skeptics Seriously/This is not a straightforward battle between a pro-human and a pro-economy camp; — by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic" — a post that quotes The Atlantic. I say: "Now, there's the kind of title that calls out to me. Moderate, promising to look at both sides. It's the second-most "popular" article right now at The Atlantic. The first is: 'The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying/The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others' by Adam Serwer, which is the sort of evil pot-stirring I loathe. I won't do a link for that one. You can find it yourself if you want. I don't want to reward that sort of thing." 

"Flipping the pride" — a post showing gay men are appropriating the name "Proud Boys" for themselves. It's just a presumably gay guy dancing in a rainbow outfit and wig. This is a pro-gay post!

"If Trump and Pence both get very sick, it’s not clear who would be president/President Pelosi? Invoking the Succession Act would lead to chaos" — the post title is a headline from an article by lawprof Sanford V. Levinson, which I proceed to discuss! 

How did these articles get flagged? By robots or by opponents of this blog? What kind of review does Google have that would reinforce the idea that this is "Dangerous or derogatory content"?! Review by robots or by opponents of this blog? I can't imagine an unbiased human being finding all — or any — of these posts to have "Dangerous or derogatory content." It could be that I'm getting flagged for crap in the comments....

I'm not dealing with it any more. So enjoy ad-free Althouse.

107 comments:

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"Dangerous or derogatory content," =

You must only say good things about the Nazi-left.

Ann Althouse said...

To tell you the truth, AdSense does not pay enough to deserve the space on the blog. I've thought that for a long time. The only reason I've kept the service is that I think this is such a conspicuous Blogger blog (maybe the biggest Blogger blog), and I want Blogger to survive and think it depends on the ad revenue. That is, I've been trying to support Google! But I'm not going to accept this abuse. It's dangerous and derogatory!

Please notice the Amazon and PayPal links in the sidebar. You can support this blog which is no longer supported by ads.

Sally327 said...

If you were making money off those ads you shouldn't give it up. I don't know the answer but after a lifetime in the business world I am sure that there is an answer and you just have to find the right person at Google to provide it. Meanwhile consider weaponizing your readership base. We can (figuratively) storm the gates of Google and demand justice for you.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I contribute the cost of a latte via PayPal every month and I will increase it to a less negligible amount.

Everyone else: step up, if you haven’t yet already.

FullMoon said...

Amazon portal is immediately below Althouse photo, upper right
It's simple, just click it. Remember to use it.

Patrick said...

My problem with the left is their constant forced values upon everyone. It's so oppressive. Traditional media does it, social media does it. I'm so sick of it. The only thing short of kidnapping a governor is to vote, but I can sort of see how some have reached their breaking point before November 3.

5M - Eckstine said...

I keep thinking I might blog on blogger but I see the stuff you go through with them administratively and I don't want to do it. I'd rather pay a bit more for a premium WordPress service.

One would think though that the powers that be at google would recognize your competitors are the New Yorker and the New York Times. And they might create a filter (Which I am sure they already have) that exempts you from the AI checking. It's probably based on keyword analysis of the blog and a few people reporting the blog. You touch on some edgy subjects in a scholarly way and the AI can't discern.

People trying to blog about AIDS, Trafficking, and Modern Art all probably have the same issue. One problem is these large companies don't trust you or anyone like you. They feel a business and social need to frame you down so you can't quite freely express yourself.

donald said...

Funny ain’t it?

BamaBadgOR said...

Way to go, Ann!

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

isnt it only a matter of time, at the current rate of censorship
that this blog will be forced to love big brother?

rcocean said...

Good for you. Google doesn't need your support and neither does blogger. Google will keep it, or can it, for their own reasons. I think supporting your blog through Amazon is a great choice, and Amazon doesn't tell me what to buy.

hawkeyedjb said...

Google is evil. All they had to do is take one word out of their (always phony) slogan to make it align with their values.

rcocean said...

the Federalist had to shut down their comments section, because Google told them it was violating their "policy". Its astounding how oppressive Google/Facebook/twitter are, and they should no longer be treated legally as a Bulletin board but as publishers. That's how they are acting.

actual items said...

I have waited too long to start a monthly contribution to this blog, and for that I apologize.

I just setup a monthly recurring donation starting tomorrow.

minnesota farm guy said...

"No one expects the Spanish inquisition" unless they are middle of the roaders or righties. I would think, Ann, that by now you would be having a very hard time preparing to vote for a guy like Biden who will make this censorship look like a walk in the park.

Kit Carson said...

they're coming for us all, professor.

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks, actual items. And thanks to all who do the monthly contribution. I see the contributions in email, and I always appreciate it.

Thanks to all who use the Amazon portal too. I t is, as FullMoon notes always there in the sidebar.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I’ll try to remember you at Xmas Althouse but Dem governors lockdown economy has killed us this year.

Kathryn51 said...

I must admit, I have never contributed, partly because by the time I get to the site, the morning comments are usually baked and done. Try to use the Amazon portal.

But I'll repeat my past comment (for the 3rd or 4th time), if you go to a paywall, that doesn't require comment moderation to deal with the scofflaws, I'll be one of the first to subscribe.

Will take another look at the monthly contribution.

Unknown said...

Google also owns Blogger so the obvious future is seeing yourself hassled off your long term blogging platform. Remember, you are not the customer - you are the product...

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

I expect it's a bot, no human intervention unless there's a complaint. Do you still own the althou.se domain? I know it's not what you want, but you might want to consider moving the blog to a different hosting platform.

chuck said...

"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you."

n.n said...

It's Google operating under the umbrella corporation Alphabet. That said, it's the Rainbow, a symbol of diversity and exclusion of black, brown, and takes gay pride in the shredded remains of white lives. Clearly a symbol embraced by rabid diversitists. On the other hand, the swastika is an ancient Indian symbol of peace, prosperity, and brotherhood.

Wince said...

Fascist Pigs!

rhhardin said...

It's your offensive free speech policy. Google has a serious free speech policy, if you want a model.

Yancey Ward said...

It isn't your content that is getting flagged, Ms. Althouse, it is what we commenters are saying- they are flagging the separate blog post which contains all of the comments at the end. You just have too many of us deplorables.

tim maguire said...

In case you were concerned about my reaction, I don't find any of those posts dangerous or derogatory.

rehajm said...

The algorithms win again!

Funny how the reasons are always so indefensible and incoherent, as if they are just trying to harass people with opinions they don't like...

Joe Smith said...

Big tech is evil. And Google truly is a monopoly.

What do you think big government will do to you and your blog?

You're going to love what Joe and Kamala have in store for people who have 'inconvenient' thoughts.

Gotta wake up...

JML said...

F google. They will eventually come after all of us.

Temujin said...

I hate Google, though I love gmail. That is my quandary.
Yes, and it's time for me to regularly 'subscribe'. You give me much of my mental enjoyment- daily.

PluralThumb said...

'...request a review, or ( remove the ad code from the violating pages.')

The instructions are precise to the so called ' violating pages.' I can understand any frustration if AdSense is attached at the heading, main page. Hense tracking from the heading through.
Good question if any comments/commenters effect the durogatory or offensive policy.

I'd try reinstalling AdSense after 24 hours or so. Or, as per google, attach AdSense to individual posts.

I have not read the 4 specific posts myself before. I'll return to read the comments.

Google's vague response may be a way to defend google from finger pointing. I wouldn't stress the details.

- Sincerely,

Big Brother


Gordon Scott said...

Scott Adams and other commentators have talked about how when they post their podcasts on YouTube, they get immediately demonetized. Then, 36 hours later, the ruling is overturned. But 36 hours later, the blogger has lost 98 percent of the interest, so effectively they were demonetized forever.

It would be different if it were a once-in-a-while thing, but when it happens every day, it's pretty clear that someone at Google is doing it deliberately.

Google has at least ten thousand employees that do nothing but check posts. Google can afford to, because they control 85 percent of internet ad revenue.

bagoh20 said...

Anything that reduces Google's income and thus power is a good thing for us all, because you can't both support Google and also "Do no evil".

ga6 said...

Ms A you are slowly being dragged into full Deplorable status..

Big Mike said...

Please notice the Amazon and PayPal links in the sidebar. You can support this blog which is no longer supported by ads.

You know, there’s some stuff I need to buy from Amazon. Thanks for reminding me.

Luke Blanshard said...

It's probably not your posts, but the comments on them that the bots object to. They're looking at the whole page.

Earnest Prole said...

It's all robots, programmed to weed out anything that could conceivably cause them trouble. It's not like Google employs hundreds of millions of people to read the entire internet every day.

Dude1394 said...

I quit using Google search about a year ago. It’s kind of painful because they do have a solid product, but hey, if I can’t be a little inconvenienced then I should stop bitching.
I will support this blog, it is stop down reading.

Narr said...

Prof's guilting me into another (overdue) paypal shot.

I would bet a similar amount that you and your commenters are on some wuss's watchlist and get reported regularly.

Narr
Won't miss the damn ads

madAsHell said...

...and you wonder why you can't find ammo, or inexpensive firearms!!

Static Ping said...

The amount of content that the big tech companies filters - censors really - is so enormous now that it is pretty much all AI. If you get lucky, you get a real human being to intervene and clear any obvious goofs, but good luck with that. One of the chess channels I watch had their YouTube live stream cutoff mid-stream due to "racist content" or some such. Apparently, "white is better" or "black is worse in this position" was causing the algorithm to think they had stumbled into a KKK meeting.

Ann Althouse said...

“ Google also owns Blogger so the obvious future is seeing yourself hassled off your long term blogging platform.“

Nothing lasts forever. I’ve gone 17 years here. Some day it will end, maybe only when I die, but it will end. Am I halfway through? Will I be doing this every day 17 years from now, when I will be 87? I’d like to, but who knows how the cut off will arrive? If it’s an act of Google rather than an act of God, what difference does it make?

R C Belaire said...

Perhaps what you could do is to utilize the screen capture feature of your computer and insert an image as opposed to the actual text + hyperlink. You could then bury the hyperlink in some other word(s) like "Go here for the article." I don't know how Google checks this stuff but maybe it's worth a shot? Next Amazon order goes thru your site! And Christmas is coming.

daskol said...

It's not what you say, it's how you say it. The collection of things that you've got on this page, taken together, remind the learning algorithm of truly deplorable websites humans have used as examples of problematic websites. Maybe they used unz.com or something to train it. That's how the world sees you, for entertaining these incredibly deplorable things. Of course deplorable now very often means interesting and dangerous, especially dangerous. Since you don't seem to mind the loss of funds, the better to enjoy the compliment. But an act of Google is different from an act of God because we're sliding into warmer and warmer revolution, and Google is the massive weapon of the opposition.

daskol said...

You've been targeted. That's pretty fucking cool. Also disturbing.

LA_Bob said...

"If it’s an act of Google rather than an act of God..."

There's a difference????

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

I really enjoy your posts, Ann. Thoughtful and I get to see some of the nonsense NYT and WaPoo are trying to disseminate. I've made a donation, but I refuse to use Paypal. Paypal blacklist me sometime ago for no discernable reason, so I have blacklisted them back.

historyDoc said...

Ann - you are essentially being censored. Your content is being censored by know-nothings who have the power. How does it feel? You probably don't need the money, but it still sucks. Most all of us can't help noticing that the level of censoring is going up across society. It's not being done by conservatives. It's by people who support the other guys. If you support them, you support this.

How did we get from free speech in the 60's to the all-censoring social media commisars that rule us now? The answer is pretty obvious, the fix not so clear.

NYC JournoList said...

Althouse, you are being targeted. Be proud, you are influential enough that they are scared!

Scott said...

Freedom of the Press Is Guaranteed Only to Those Who Own One.

Time to compile an anthology of your best blog posts.

n.n said...

"If it’s an act of Google rather than an act of God..."

There's a difference????


God in heaven. Google in the umbrella corporation Alphabet.

Matt said...

It's not the government targeting your speech so its totally cool. *puts one hand on hip and wiggles his finger in your face with the other* Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences, you know!

This is one of those areas where the left actually defends private property. Are there any others?

Birkel said...

Google is evil.
Not the company, but the people who work there are evil.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

should it eventually come to it, Our Most Gracious Host,
will you choose to "die on your feet rather than live on your knees"
re: free speech?
Comply?
Try to work around the incremental restrictions?
Shut down the blog rather than give in to oppression?

Joe said...

Not good at all. I donated to help you win the good fight!

Hey Skipper said...

I get a lot out of the posts and the comments.

And in return I hit the tip jar monthly.

Display Name said...

Next week I retire from a multinational company that supplies thousands of staff to Google and Facebook for content management. I am not acting as a spokesman for any of the relevant companies. My comments represent my own opinion only.

We are only one of several companies that supply staff for this purpose. There are tens of thousands, maybe well over a hundred thousand people doing this work globally. Considering the economics of the labor arbitrage market, a surprisingly large number of people engaged in the work are located in the USA. However, it's quite possible that all of the human-based content review for this blog or the blogger platform is performed "offshore" - perhaps from any of a dozen different countries.

I find all the "leftist cabal" commentary on this topic highly amusing. It's SO much simpler than that. All major corporations HATE controversial topics to be associated with their brand. Therefore, the operations are designed to weed out risky/controversial topics... as cheaply as possible. Of course mistakes will be made, so the process is skewed towards deletion/banning/striking, which is the lowest risk outcome. The objective is nothing more than keep advertisers happy by avoiding the association of something controversial with their brand. These days the bar for controversy is so low...

You should not make the mistake of thinking that there is some sort of super sophisticated AI software at work here - AI is extremely expensive and produces unpredictable results. It's easy to understand how an unsophisticated software program would tend to catch many things based on keyword matches - Flagged posts may then be sent to a human for review. That person may be bored, angry, inattentive, have their own agenda or just plain be bad at their job, resulting in seemingly arbitrary action... to the blogger. From the corporate perspective it isn't arbitrary at all - if controversy was avoided and risk to the brand was lowered which was the objective in the first place. The default: When in doubt weed it out.

What about the appeals/reviews you ask? Keep in mind that the focus is to perform this review as cheaply as possible. I think that most of the reviews are nothing more than a quick scan to confirm that the strike process in a specific case was followed to a specified but non-public standard. If the process was executed to standard, nothing changes. For something to escalate, the strike action itself would have to become highly and broadly controversial.

I understand that this blog is large and popular, but in the ocean of the Internet it's a molecule. YT creators, some with over 10M subscribers, have made dozens of videos complaining about similar arbitrary demonetization actions. If their bitching hasn't had an impact...

In short, it's all gigantic corporate machinery wired to maximize revenue and reduce risk at the lowest per transaction cost. I'm sure that many readers of this blog will find this unsurprising.

Leeatmg said...

One of the best and first things I read every day. Happy to throw in a few bucks. Worth every penny.

Ken B said...

I agree with Birkel (this time; I don’t condemn the Berlin airlift). America is plagued by employees who see power as license. It sounds like that is the issue here. If it were pursued you would win an eventual appeal, but then it would just happen again.

Anti trust. Break up big tech.

Levi Starks said...

Nice to see you finally grew a pair.

Jason said...

Where the Hell is Nasim Najafi Aghdam when you need her?

bobby said...

"I think supporting your blog through Amazon is a great choice, and Amazon doesn't tell me what to buy."

Never dealt with Amazon Bookstore, eh? That's where they invented cancellation and banning.

Wilbur said...

"...opponents of this blog"

I'd be very interested in hearing you elaborate on this. Who are the opponents? Who, what why how, etc.

Nicholas said...

Ann, this is appalling, but I cannot say I am surprised: you have been given the same treatment as The Federalist. Google's power over internet advertising is more or less total - it controls almost all of the "ad stack" of services and is rife with conflicts of interest and abuse of its dominance. It makes Senator McCarthy's pursuit of unAmerican activities look very small scale and feeble indeed.

I am a long term reader, although only an occasional commentator. I'm English and can't really use Amazon US: the prices are often better, but the customs duties and hassle of the formalities makes it unrealistic to support you in this way. However, I'll certainly make a donation.

Mark said...

The comment section is filled with vitriol and sometimes threats.

Not a surprise that your chickens have come home to roost, or rather your commentators chickens.

Lie down with dogs and you get fleas. Lie down on Google with dogs and you get flagged.

DEEBEE said...

Thanks Ann!

stlcdr said...

With the number of blogs, I have a hard time believing a bipartisan person reviewed anything you have posted.

Technology which may have flagged the posts failed; if a minority of trolls flagged them, then system has failed; the inability to achieve reasonable restitution has failed. The inability for a system to describe why an action has been taken demonstrates a failed system.

Unfortunately, as a society, we have become more ignorant and are accepting of such failures ever since ‘have you tried turning it off and on again’ became an accepted solution to a computer problem. We are becoming more unintelligent every day.

Rusty said...

PT. Althouse wants to blog not be an administrator for Google.

Scott said...
'Freedom of the Press Is Guaranteed Only to Those Who Own One.

Time to compile an anthology of your best blog posts.'
I got a better idea. One of you computer wizards come up with an alternative to AdSense that can be embedded in the Althouse Blog.

Big Mike said...

Wife put it succinctly this morning. You’re a lawyer, Althouse. Sue the bastards!

Matt Sablan said...

"If it’s an act of Google rather than an act of God, what difference does it make?"

-- God is bigger on forgiveness.

Pete said...

This is what Rod Dreher is talking about in his new book, Live Not By Lies. The soft tyranny by the Left. Woke-capitalism wants to crush you.

wendybar said...

You must think alike, you must think alike, you must think alike. Do not deviate. Do not deviate. Do not deviate. You WILL comply. You WILL comply. You WILL comply. How do you like living in a Progressive world, where your opinion MUST be theirs, or you get censored??

MD Greene said...

Because we all know that the people best equipped to write software that snuffs out wrongthink are coders, amiright?

Ann Althouse said...

"Wife put it succinctly this morning. You’re a lawyer, Althouse. Sue the bastards!"

So wrong on so many levels.

Ann Althouse said...

Notice that the withdrawal of the ads only applied to the post pages, not to the front page, so the actual loss of money was very close to nothing. I am reacting to the email, which irritates and insults me. I don't want the relationship in my life.

Ann Althouse said...

By getting rid of them entirely, however, I do lose money... so that's a voluntary sacrifice by me.

tim maguire said...

historyDoc said...Ann - you are essentially being censored.

Google provides the blogger platform for free. Google provides adsense for free. They may be shitty people, but they have right to associate (or not) with anybody they want.

Ann Althouse said...

But I don't like the look of ads on the page, and I didn't think they paid well enough. I was on the edge of tolerating them, which I did for the money. I just reached a tipping point over this bullshit.

tim in vermont said...

It’s kind of similar to that article of the woman who embedded with Antifa and described their tactics as “pushing your shoulder and pushing your shoulder and pushing your shoulder until you either cave to them or you punch them” Either way they win.

Mark is happy that you have been punished for allowing authority to be questioned. It’s all fun and games Mark, until there is no longer freedom of expression of any kind. I think of the NBA where only approved messages were allowed on players jerseys in place of the name. Nothing like “Forced Labor is Just Slavery By Another Name” is allowed, as it might offend the NBA’s Chinese paymasters.

That’s the future Mark is hoping for. It’s textbook fascism.

Mr. D said...

Thank you. I'm sorry it came to this.

tim in vermont said...

"I expect it's a bot, no human intervention unless there's a complaint.”

I am sure a bot provides the pretext, I agree with Althouse, it’s people doing the review, these are the same people who refuse to approve Kavanaugh’s name in spellcheck. Bitter Mark types, who cling to their tiny bit of power. I remember reading, back when the Soviet Union was still a thing, that because they could’t pay people with real money, their jobs often came with “psychic pay.” An example they gave was that a traffic cop could force you to wash your car, so his “pay” was the sense of power this gave him over you.

Any book or anything else I buy through Amazon, I buy through here. Costs me nothing, and this and smalldeadanimals.com are the only blogs I support. Kate there sells books and sometimes I buy those too. Instapundit has sunk to the level of its commenters since Glenn allowed comments, so the most I will do for that blog is to not disable ads.

Tina Trent said...

Fight it. Because you have the power to do so.

It's not about you. It's about the less powerful people whose lives and careers are being damaged or ruined by this creeping censorship.

Fight it because fighting for free speech matters.

Tina Trent said...

And in fact the thing you're fighting is the banal and dishonest complacency of the censorship regime justified by "Display Name," whose handle says everything about how quislings like him enforce increasingly fascistic control over our lives and livelihoods and then justify it -- not in the light of day, but from behind fake names because they know precisely how much they're lying about the harm they are doing to speech rights and other people.

If what you do is so benign, "Display Name," why are you afraid to use your real name? I dare you to say this in the light of day.

Patrick Henry was right! said...

We enjoy Althouse with or without ads.
Thank you again for all the work!!

Todd said...

Temujin said...

I hate Google, though I love gmail. That is my quandary.
Yes, and it's time for me to regularly 'subscribe'. You give me much of my mental enjoyment- daily.

10/8/20, 8:11 PM


I used to use gmail ALL the time but for various reasons have move (now 2 or 3 years ago) to protonmail. I do a yearly subscription and it has much better security. I still keep the gmail account but don't actively use it.

Jersey Fled said...

All major corporations HATE controversial topics to be associated with their brand. Therefore, the operations are designed to weed out risky/controversial topics...

And by doing so, stifle legitimate dialog. And assure that only the preferred narrative gets communicated.

Todd said...

Unknown said...

I quit using Google search about a year ago. It’s kind of painful because they do have a solid product, but hey, if I can’t be a little inconvenienced then I should stop bitching.
I will support this blog, it is stop down reading.

10/8/20, 8:46 PM


Longer for me, DuckDuckGo is the way to "go"...

Todd said...

Display Name said...

Next week I retire from a multinational company that supplies thousands of staff to Google and Facebook for content management. I am not acting as a spokesman for any of the relevant companies. My comments represent my own opinion only.

...

In short, it's all gigantic corporate machinery wired to maximize revenue and reduce risk at the lowest per transaction cost. I'm sure that many readers of this blog will find this unsurprising.

10/8/20, 11:24 PM


See the AI is so sophisticated that it now comments in blog comment sections that discuss how evil it is, to try and convince us actual humans that IT is not at fault and it is NOT evil! How clever! DON'T BE FOOLED!

tcrosse said...

This looks like a fine opportunity to hit the tip jar.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

"Amazon portal is immediately below Althouse photo, upper right
It's simple, just click it. Remember to use it.?

Faster than having a separate browser bookmark for Amazon. Being 50 mi round trip from even a modest size city, it is Amazon for most everything except food and fuel.

JAORE said...

I'm not an attorney and did not sleep in a Holiday Inn last night. But what happened to the discussion of whether platforms were just that or if they own what is placed on the platforms?

If Google censors content, by algorithm or human intervention - via demonetizing - are they not "accepting" all other content? Does that make them responsible, to some degree for all that other content? Are they thus vulnerable for defamation even if just a comment?

RigelDog said...

Mark said: "The comment section is filled with vitriol and sometimes threats."

Dude. Do you even internet?

Left Bank of the Charles said...

"To tell you the truth, AdSense does not pay enough to deserve the space on the blog."

I wonder what share of the ad revenue you were getting. The honest truth may be that the ads on your blog did not pay Google enough either. You have relieved Google of the cost of reviewing your content to satisfy their advertisers. You can consider that your contribution to the survival of blogger. If they want you back on AdSense, they'll ask you.

Sam L. said...

De-google thyself; you will feel much better.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Tag this civility bullshit. The interesting thing is that both Google and Althouse have put a price on civility. Althouse was getting paid for civil posts and not paid for uncivil ones. Althouse found this insulting and is declining payment for the civil posts, but also inviting readers to contribute in other ways. Will Althouse profit more from reader-supported incivility than from ad-supported civility? My prediction is yes.

AngryKook said...

I just hit Paypal. Take Meade out for a sensible dinner or something on me. :)

Kirk Parker said...

JAORE,

I am not a lawyer either, but that is certainly how I would describe the Section 340 Safe Harbor provisions.

However I don't think they are implicated here at all. Deplorable as this situation is, it is not a case of Google/blogger taking down Althouse's content; they're just saying they don't want to run their ads on some of the pages.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Althouse was running interspersed advertisements? If so, had not noticed. Had Pi-Hole running for several years now. First on a Raspberry (buy 'em at Amazon thru the link here), then on the Debian security camera machine. Cleans off the ads at Insty and most of 'em from Lucianne.

When a video clip is stalled by a front-end ad, sometimes will SSH to the Debian machine and temporarily pihole disable. If a site has a non-killable nag about the ad-blocker I just go elsewhere.

wayworn wanderer said...

Bless you and thank you. Google sucks.

Big Mike said...

So wrong on so many levels.

@Althouse, we hope you at least chuckled when you read our suggestion.

JAORE said...

Duck Duck (is the way to)Go.....

Tinderbox said...

Just harassment by the little liberal toadies who work at Google.

Darcy said...

Makes me really proud of my fellow patriots who continue to champion free speech - all speech, hateful or otherwise.

We are going to rue these days of the complacency of too many who understand the importance, but can't be bothered to fight for it.

Jim at said...

I find all the "leftist cabal" commentary on this topic highly amusing. It's SO much simpler than that. All major corporations HATE controversial topics to be associated with their brand. Therefore, the operations are designed to weed out risky/controversial topics... as cheaply as possible. Of course mistakes will be made, so the process is skewed towards deletion/banning/striking, which is the lowest risk outcome.

Sure. Understood.

But I find it highly amusing all these 'mistakes' generally flow in one direction.

And the full-throated support of BLM - and every other social justice bullshit trend - reveals not all major corporations hate controversial topics ... if they're topics which also flow in one direction.

Joe Smith said...

"Will I be doing this every day 17 years from now, when I will be 87?"

I'd like to think so : )

Blackbeard said...

I have used your Amazon portal occasionally but I haven’t been diligent about it. Now that I see what Google is doing I’ll make a point of using the portal every time.