Google Shopping Censors All Gun, Ammo & Accessories Results

							Google Shopping Censors All Gun, Ammo &
Accessories Results
Firearms Blog
July 1, 2012
Google sent out an email to Google Adwords customers saying that they are going to pull all Google
Shopping results for guns, ammunition, gun optics and gun accessories (Shopping results, not general
search results).




HamLund Tactical received this email and posted it on 68forums.com (emphasis added) …
     Dear Merchant,

     We’re writing to let you know about some upcoming changes to the product listings you
     submit to Google. As we recently announced, we are starting to transition our shopping
     experience to a commercial model that builds on Product Listing Ads. This new shopping
     experience is called Google Shopping. As part of this transition, we’ll begin to enforce a set
     of new policies for Google Shopping in the coming weeks. A new list of the allowed,
restricted, and prohibited products on Google Shopping is available on our new policy page
– http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/ApI7UWRj6OCZpd. Based on a review of the
products you’re currently submitting, it appears that some of the content in your Merchant
Center account, HamLund Tactical, will be affected by these policy changes. In particular
we found that your products
may violate the following
policies:

Weapons

When we make this change,
Google will disapprove all of
the products identified as being
in violation of policies. We ask
that you make any necessary
changes to your feeds and/or
site to comply, so that your
products can continue to appear
on Google Shopping.

To help you through this new
set of policies and how to
comply with them, we would
like to give you some specific
suggestions regarding the changes needed to keep your offers running on Google Shopping.

Weapons

As highlighted on our new policy page
http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/ApI7UWRj6OCZpd, in order to comply with the
Google Shopping policies you need to comply first with the AdWords policies
http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/StQ08jAzM4fVtG.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. For more information
                                                on this policy please visit
http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/GbBNIGHOribLzf.

We’re constantly reviewing our policies, and
updating them when necessary, to ensure we’re
offering the best experience possible to our
users. We’ve identified a set of policy principles
to govern our policy efforts on Google Shopping
in the U.S. These principles are:

1) Google Shopping should provide a positive
experience to users. Showing users the right
products at the right time can truly enhance a
user’s experience. When people trust us to
deliver them to a destination that’s relevant,
original, and easy to navigate this creates a
positive online experience to the benefit of both
users and merchants.

2 ) Google Shopping should be safe for all users. User safety is everyone’s business, and
we can’t do business with those who don’t agree. Scams, phishing, viruses, and other
malicious activities on the Internet damage the value of the Internet for everyone. Trying to
get around policies or “game the system” is unfair to our users, and we can’t allow that.

3) Google Shopping should comply with local laws and regulations. Many products and
services are regulated by law, which can vary from country to country. All advertising, as
well as the products and services being advertised, must clearly comply with all applicable
laws and regulations. For the most part, our policies aren’t designed to describe every law
in every country. All advertisers bear their own responsibility for understanding the laws
applicable to their business. Our policies are often more restrictive than the law, because we
need to be sure we can offer services that are legal and safe for all users.

4) Google Shopping should be compatible with Google’s brand decisions. Google
Shopping must be compatible with company brand decisions. Our company has a strong
culture and values, and we’ve chosen not to allow ads that promote products and services
that are incompatible with these values. In addition, like all companies, Google sometimes
makes decisions based on technical limitations, resource constraints, or requirements from
     our business partners. Our policies
     reflect these realities.

     We’ve given much thought to our
     stance on this content, as well as the
     potential effect our policy decision
     could have on our Merchants, and we
     apologize for any inconvenience this
     may cause you.

     Sincerely,

     The Google Shopping Team

     © 2012 Google Inc. 1600
     Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 You have received this mandatory email
     service announcement to update you about important changes to your Google Merchant




                                               Center account.

This is a pity. I liked using Google Shopping to compare prices on gun-related products. Google now
has a worse policy than ebay, which at least allows accessories. Shame on you Google.
UPDATE: I published this post a few hours ago and the search “5.56mm ammo” (as seen in the
screenshot above) worked in Google Shopping. I now get “5.56mm ammo – did not match any
shopping results”. It may still be working for some people, depending on which Google servers you are
hitting.
The Obama Deception The Truth About Barry Soetoro AKA Barack Obama video below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw

Fall of the Republic The Destruction of America video below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VebOTc-7shU


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