Rick Dean
Registered
5
http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/04/04/Google_J*ws_4.html
Anti-Semitic site bumped off Google's top spot
A WORLD-WIDE effort has succeeded in bumping an anti-Semitic web site from its No. 1 rank on the popular search engine Google.
Utilizing a cyber-petition and some clever HTML programming, a diverse group of Jewish activists, academics and even a US senator managed to replace the top spot with Wikipedia's encyclopedia, which two weeks ago held no rank.
David Irving comments:
A CORRESPONDENT writes to me Friday, April 16, 2004: "I ran a search on Google for 'J*w' today
Jewwatch.com is still number one (despite claims to the contrary) but Google has included a sort of disclaimer. However, the site itself is down (server not found). This may be significant. I also checked
r
r
out
jewwatch.org This site has been 'cybersqatted' [i.e., the enemy
has seized the domain name]. So much for freedom of speech.".
Google Inc. had come under fire for refusing to remove the site, J*w Watch, which appeared No. 1 out of 1.75 relevant entries when a search for "J*w" was conducted. J*w Watch's mandate is to keep a "close watch on Jewish communities and organizations worldwide."
"I certainly am very offended by the site," said Sergey Brin, (left, in drag) who launched Google with fellow Stanford University graduate student Larry Page in the late 1990s, "but the objectivity of our rankings is one of our very important principles."
Angered by Google's response, New York-based real estate investor Steven Wienst
ock launched an online petition on his site Remove J*w Watch. The petition attracted over 82,000 signatures in just two weeks.
Many people signed the petition out of worry that any person l
ook
ing
to find ou
t about Judaism would be offered choices such as the "Jewish Mind Control," "Jewish World Conspiracies," and "Jewish Banki
ng and Financial Manipulations."
Under one of the categories, titled 'Revisionists - 6,000,000 J*ws DID NOT DIE,' there are dozens of links to articles dedicated to Holocaust revisionism.
However, the investor-cum-internet crusader has also received multiple threats, hate mail and unwanted damage by computer hackers. Instead of showing the petition, Remove J*w Watch temporarily displayed pornographic images and the message "the lamest site ever."
Google said it would not be swayed by Weinstock's petition, noting that a web site's ranking was automatically determined by computer algorithms. "Somet
imes subtleties of language cause anomalies to appear that cannot be predicted," said Brin.
"A search for "J*w" brings up one such unexpected result." T
he Anti
-Defama
tion League, which
monitors hate groups and anti-Semitic activity, backed Google's decision not to remove the hate site.
"The ranking of J*w Watch and other hate sites is in no way due to a conscious choice by Google,
but solely is a result of this automated system of ranking," said the Anti-Defamation League in a March 30 letter on its website.
But US Senator (NY-D) Charles Schumer sent Google a letter asking that it change its algorithm to lower J*w Watch's ranking in the search results. In the end, the anti-Semitic site was done in by those same content-blind algorithms, which were exploited by using a popular technique called "Google bombing," said Daniel Sieradski, editor of J*w School, a Web site dedicated to Jewish fringe culture.
"I decided to issue a
call to arms on my Web site, asking people to make a coordinated effort to link all Internet communications to Wikipedia using the word 'J*w,'" said Sieradski
.
Wh
en done in
a coordinated effort, such
linking is known as a "Google Bomb." Although not illegal, the technique exploits Google's technology by artificially boosting the popularity of the targeted site.
"I can understand Google's concern that this method can be abused," said S
ieradski. "I admit that we are abusing it; but frankly, I think it's for a good cause."
Others agree and have joined the fight to replace the anti-Semitic site. University of Manchester political science professor Norman Geras has included a link to Wikipedia "J*w" on his home page.
While J*w Watch is no longer the number one site that appears when a viewer conducts a Google search for "J*w," many critics of the site said they will not be happy until its completely eliminat
ed from search engine results.
http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/04/04/Google_J*ws_4.html
Anti-Semitic site bumped off Google's top spot
A WORLD-WIDE effort has succeeded in bumping an anti-Semitic web site from its No. 1 rank on the popular search engine Google.
Utilizing a cyber-petition and some clever HTML programming, a diverse group of Jewish activists, academics and even a US senator managed to replace the top spot with Wikipedia's encyclopedia, which two weeks ago held no rank.
David Irving comments:
A CORRESPONDENT writes to me Friday, April 16, 2004: "I ran a search on Google for 'J*w' today
Jewwatch.com is still number one (despite claims to the contrary) but Google has included a sort of disclaimer. However, the site itself is down (server not found). This may be significant. I also checked
r
r
out
jewwatch.org This site has been 'cybersqatted' [i.e., the enemy
has seized the domain name]. So much for freedom of speech.".
Google Inc. had come under fire for refusing to remove the site, J*w Watch, which appeared No. 1 out of 1.75 relevant entries when a search for "J*w" was conducted. J*w Watch's mandate is to keep a "close watch on Jewish communities and organizations worldwide."
"I certainly am very offended by the site," said Sergey Brin, (left, in drag) who launched Google with fellow Stanford University graduate student Larry Page in the late 1990s, "but the objectivity of our rankings is one of our very important principles."
Angered by Google's response, New York-based real estate investor Steven Wienst
ock launched an online petition on his site Remove J*w Watch. The petition attracted over 82,000 signatures in just two weeks.
Many people signed the petition out of worry that any person l
ook
ing
to find ou
t about Judaism would be offered choices such as the "Jewish Mind Control," "Jewish World Conspiracies," and "Jewish Banki
ng and Financial Manipulations."
Under one of the categories, titled 'Revisionists - 6,000,000 J*ws DID NOT DIE,' there are dozens of links to articles dedicated to Holocaust revisionism.
However, the investor-cum-internet crusader has also received multiple threats, hate mail and unwanted damage by computer hackers. Instead of showing the petition, Remove J*w Watch temporarily displayed pornographic images and the message "the lamest site ever."
Google said it would not be swayed by Weinstock's petition, noting that a web site's ranking was automatically determined by computer algorithms. "Somet
imes subtleties of language cause anomalies to appear that cannot be predicted," said Brin.
"A search for "J*w" brings up one such unexpected result." T
he Anti
-Defama
tion League, which
monitors hate groups and anti-Semitic activity, backed Google's decision not to remove the hate site.
"The ranking of J*w Watch and other hate sites is in no way due to a conscious choice by Google,
but solely is a result of this automated system of ranking," said the Anti-Defamation League in a March 30 letter on its website.
But US Senator (NY-D) Charles Schumer sent Google a letter asking that it change its algorithm to lower J*w Watch's ranking in the search results. In the end, the anti-Semitic site was done in by those same content-blind algorithms, which were exploited by using a popular technique called "Google bombing," said Daniel Sieradski, editor of J*w School, a Web site dedicated to Jewish fringe culture.
"I decided to issue a
call to arms on my Web site, asking people to make a coordinated effort to link all Internet communications to Wikipedia using the word 'J*w,'" said Sieradski
.
Wh
en done in
a coordinated effort, such
linking is known as a "Google Bomb." Although not illegal, the technique exploits Google's technology by artificially boosting the popularity of the targeted site.
"I can understand Google's concern that this method can be abused," said S
ieradski. "I admit that we are abusing it; but frankly, I think it's for a good cause."
Others agree and have joined the fight to replace the anti-Semitic site. University of Manchester political science professor Norman Geras has included a link to Wikipedia "J*w" on his home page.
While J*w Watch is no longer the number one site that appears when a viewer conducts a Google search for "J*w," many critics of the site said they will not be happy until its completely eliminat
ed from search engine results.
