NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Yahoo Pushing Porn
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Yahoo Pushing Porn
Dr. William Busa (cbol_at_balt.mindspring.com)
Thu, 23 Oct 1997 10:54:08 -0400
Regarding smut ads on Yahoo and its ilk, Kristine Loosley wrote:
>Look, this is a free market. Who would suggest that the
>Internet be any less? This is an issue similar to the
>one that asks: Should we own stock in a tobacco company
>because smoking kills?
>You vote with your clicks on this one, Greg. If you don't
>like Yahoo's ad acceptance policy, use a different search
>engine.
No argument here regarding free markets and voting with your
clicks. This isn't really an issue of "right" or "wrong", but
rather "smart" or "stupid." These search engines' willingness
to climb in bed with the smut peddlers is simply stupid. It
violates the Prime Directive: "Fly with the crows, get shot
with the crows." The search engines that accept smut ads might
as well put a disclaimer at the top of every page: "Look folks,
we're bleeding cash here; we need every ad we can get, and we
can't afford principles." Wow! Sign me up to buy some stock in
*that* company!
The existence of Yahooligans and its ilk doesn't excuse this
major mental lapse. As the father of a Web-savvy twelve-year-old,
I feel they might just as well have named it "Kids Won't Find
Anything Interesting Here!" Boy, I bet that draws 'em in like
flies to honey!
Nor does the existence of "filtering" software. In a word, it's
bogus. I have no problem with my kid being exposed to words like
"breast" and "penis" -- it's salacious content I'm worried about,
and only the NSA is capable of producing software that assesses
content. Further, I'd like to see someone try to create software
that filters out obscene gifs!
In business, image counts. I'd as soon cut of my left hand as put
a nudie banner on my site. If the search engines see it differently
well...gee, I'll miss 'em when they go out of business!
Dr. William Busa (busa_at_memex-press.com)
MEMEX Press
Publishers of "Critical Comparisons of American Colleges and
Universities"
www.memex-press.com/cc
