"Internet giant G*ogle has banned advertisements critical of MoveOn.org, the far-left advocacy group that caused a national uproar last month when it received preferential treatment from The New York Times for its "General Betray Us" message.
The ads banned by G*ogle were placed by a firm working for Republican Sen. Susan Collins' re-election campaign. Collins is seeking her third term. Earlier this week, G*ogle told Lance Dutson, president of Maine Coast Designs, that the ads he placed for Collins had been removed and would not be allowed to resume because they violated G*ogle's trademark policy.
G*ogle's Web site states, "G*ogle takes allegations of trademark infringement very seriously and, as a courtesy, we're happy to investigate matters raised by trademark owners." That suggests G*ogle acted in response to a complaint by MoveOn.org.
Source
Did you get that? Using the MoveOn name is a "trademark infringement"! There is absolutely no basis in law for that, however. It is just a figleaf to hide their move to the dark side.
As a private company, G*ogle can do what it likes within the law but there is one part of the law they may not be thinking of: Antitrust legislation. They now have a considerable dominance in at least some types of online advertising and if they annoy enough people, they could well be forced by the courts to divest themselves of their non-core businesses. And interfering with political advertising is definitely poison when it comes to antagonizing large numbers of people.
I normally give the name as "G*ogle" when I write critical things about them in the faint hope that what I say will escape the scrutiny of their team that tracks everything said about them. They appear to be evil enough to delete this site and it is within their power to do so if they don't like what I say. If any of my sites DO disappear some day, don't forget my mirror sites
The comments here are hosted by G*ogle too so if commenters could see their way clear not to use the full name either it might help.
(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Pages are here or here or here. Email me (John Ray) here.)
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