Google Displaying Offensive Ads for 'Autism' keyword

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Google Aut not to offend topic

I think advertising has increased in frequency and type of ad over the years. Ads have become subtle and harder for many to spot as immediately offensive. So many ads are obscurely worded as well. It takes a keen eye to sort them if you are not looking specifically for a certain kind. I think some of the wording takes advantage of our tendency to quick stop/shop. So many choices, so many voices. The marketplace of ads on the internet needs its own website. My adblock seems inadequate against the onslaught of advertising.

Google will not ban it all, so maybe ads can be employed that can attack the offensive ones and expose them for what they are--junk mail!!

Um... it's not just when you search for autism on google. It happens automatically on the ads on this site, too. I saw one advertising the Judge Rotenberg Center here on WP.

mmm, a bit offensive. I mean, I dislike Autism Speaks, and I disagree with "curing", but I wasn't surprised.

If depends on the amount of money they get per company's ad.

So, if we reunited money and offered google a better sum , WP would get above autismspeaks.

I would start such idea, but would be hypocritical, since I wouldn't donate money to that, since I cannot use money on the web due to location

I like the second one. It advocates early intervention and education - and misspelled autism.

Here are some goodies from Search.com:

Chromosome Analysis
Next Generation Chromosome Analysis Genome-Wide Oligo-array CGH Testing
www.genedx.com

Autism Resources
A place to share your research on autism to help others.
autism.resourcesfor.us

Help For Autism
Autism's underlying causes and what you can do to reverse autism.
health-reports.com

Oh, boy! We can reverse autism. Is that a cure, or would we do autistic traits in the opposite direction? I'll need an automatic, I can't do a stick shift.

And I can get my chromosomes analyzed and share my research. How did they know I have an autism research lab in my apartment? It's in the linen closet. Who needs towels?

I wouldn't make being offended the main point. Make the misleading claims the main point and Google will have to consider the legal aspects of keeping the ads going. It could put pressure on the advertisers to clean up the ads.

On my website (http://www.angelfire.com/crazy3/asperger), I put down the disclaimer that the ads are the view of Angelfire, not mine. I am thinking about putting the same disclaimer on my MySpace profile.

Let's sue google!

*I'm calling an attorney*

Google is not a non-profit company; by selling ad-space, they make money. Even if these ads are offensive, Google still posts them due to the fact that whoever paid for the right to advertise has that right to make them as offensive as they want, within law and Google corporate rule.
It may be offensive, but it's not something we should get up-in-arms about. If we're so worried about it, we should buy our own ad-space and make our own ads.

I find it pretty offensive, however type Tourette syndrome in and you get a website which claims to have a DEFINITIVE CURE for the syndrome! I looked at is sceptically and lo and behold, the only way to 'discover' this 'miricle' cure is to pay the website owner. What a load of.... (the following word is too offensive to type on this wonderful site!)

_________________
I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

In addition to the above said, Google is putting those ads there based on their AdWords algorithm. It is a mostly automated process that is based on an algorithm. In reality it's complex but let's just say those ads are appearing based on the term "autism" typed in the search field. People & companies can buy AdWords, basically search terms that when a user searches for them, they will appear based on ranking, strength, ad content, etc. When clicked Google will charge money per click to the people/company that put that ad there (and they originally have paid money to Google to list that ad). In terms of pure algorithmic/search efficiency I feel this system google is using is genius as google can direct user based general interest (ala keywords/search input) to a specific site and target ads (you probably know this, targeted advertising). Now this issue is really the group(s) that bought those ads. Google is NOT at fault here, you guys need to complain to the group(s) represented in those ads that you find offensive.
Ok off my banter now... My personal opinion is that YES those ads are offensive but those companies also have a right to advertise whatever they want (it's a free country after all) as long as it passes google's guidelines. Thing is, if google changed a guideline to prevent offensive advertising (and this is VERY vague anyways, but whatever they come up with) they would need to somehow have it apply to a whole spectrum of other ad content their serving (basically balancing their needs).

I don't have a problem with the ads, per se, because my general perception when I google is that the best stuff, what I am really looking for, isn't likely to be in the "paid" or "advertising" sections.

However, what bothers me, is the sense I get from the prevelance of these sorts of ads, and the direction of most articles I read, that parents like me may be in the minority in the concept of how to deal with our AS children. I just can't imagine how that can be, I feel so secure in the ideas I hold about where AS comes from and how best to deal with it, and our special education team seems to be right with me on it, but I can't help but feel that more parents than not are buying into all this mercury stuff, go full force on every intervention concievable, and so on. That everyone has jumped on board the "cure" train.

I don't find them particularly offensive. Silly, perhaps, but not offensive. It's life, sometimes people say things you don't want them to say. Google is a business and they give us an amazing free service that I know I - and many others - would be lost without, cut them a little slack - they need to make money somehow.

I am offended on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. I find 400 pound people very offensive, but I don't advocate confining them to buildings or culling them. The ads are paid for, Google is awesome, and it is those very ads which keep it free...and, dare I say...this site free as well?

If you don't like the ad then don't click on it. If you don't like morbidly obese people, don't date them.

It's a rare occasion that I even read the ads in the "paid" section. You know what else you can do if you REALLY just can't ignore reading them and getting your panties in a knot? Open another window (like for solitaire), and size it to fit over the awful ads. "If you can't see it then it isn't there."

In terms of offensive though, I think this is pretty minor. It's not like it's playing a song in your face or has photos or anything.

Since the exact nature of autism is still up in the air (with no sign of landing anytime soon) I wouldn't call them offensive. I would just say that they are not in alignment to my personal views. Just because I disagree with something doesn't make it offensive.

For example, I disagree with people who are serious sports fans. I personally find most sports bland and uninteresting unless I am personally involved, and don't see the attraction most people have in them. However, I am not offended when someone is a serious sports fan. Otherwise about half the country would offend me, including my own father. And I couldn't live like that.