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Google News Loses "Indispensable" Iraq Site
In recent weeks, NCAC has received numerous reports from concerned readers of Uruknet.info that the site has been removed from Google's "News" index.
Google News stopped indexing the Uruknet site on January 12. The site, which presents "Information from Occupied Iraq" seldom found in mainstream American media (much of it severely critical of the U.S. occupation), is ranked #1 in [Iraq] "News and Media" by Alexa, the web-ranking organization.
In response to inquiries from Uruknet, Google offered the following "explanation":
We've reviewed your site again and are unable to include it in Google News at this time.
The term "unable" would suggest some technical limitation; however, Uruknet has been indexed by Google for several years, and a normal Google search for "uruknet" returns the site as the #1 result. This would rule out any technical obstacles to indexing the site, since, according to Google:
The technical requirements for inclusion in Google News are the same as inclusion in Google's general index.
Google's policy is not to comment on the inclusion or removal of any individual site from its News index; however, the company does offer the following affirmation of its commitment to content neutrality:
News sources included in the service must be from news organizations, which are selected without regard to political viewpoint or ideology.
Therefore, the views and reporting on Uruknet - or any site which meets Google's qualifications as a "news organization" (as opposed to a "blog") - would not be grounds for removal from the index, regardless of how unpopular or controversial they may be. Google only specifies that hate speech and pornography would be grounds for removal.
Uruknet has been in the news index since its inception in 2004. What, then, might explain the sudden change?
Uruknet points out that the site was previously purged from Google's news search results on two occasions:
This isn't the first time that Google discontinues indexing Uruknet. On February 18, 2005, Google.news removed Uruknet.info as a news source, apparently thanks to Michelle Malkin's protestations only to reinstate them - following many complaints sent in by our readers.
On June 4, 2005 both Google.com and Google.news dropped Uruknet again without explanation: and in this case too Google reinstated Uruknet only because of complaint messages from our readers.
In the cases cited above, protest from individuals opposed to Uruknet's political and ideological stance may have prompted Google to discontinue inclusion of the site in the news index; when a ripple of protest arose, however, the site was promptly restored.
Of course Google is not legally bound to include the site in its news results. Yet – as recent issues confirm – everyone has high expectations for a company whose mission is to place as much information as possible at our fingertips while supposedly sticking by the motto "don't be evil." It is only reasonable for consumers to insist that Google support an open, democratic Internet by erring toward a "hands-off" policy when it comes to limiting sources and viewpoints, particularly on issues of such national concern as the war in Iraq. Moreover, only consumer forces can pressure the company to embrace a more transparent policy in the future, with full public disclosure of criteria for inclusion so that we are not left to suspect the worst and speculate on the motives for these kinds of decisions.
Unfortunately, Google has ignored or deflected efforts to learn more about this incident. They even shut down an email address which was distributed to Uruknet readers on January 20th with a request that they voice their concerns. Repeated calls and emails from NCAC have not been answered either.
If you are concerned about these developments, we urge you to write to Google and ask that they disclose why Uruknet was removed from the index, and that they publish a clear and fair news index policy. You can write to their support, news, press, or blog departments, or use this online feedback form. Better yet, you can post this link on your web site or blog:
Source code:
(U.K.-based blogger Gabriele Zamparini's investigative work was instrumental in the preparation of this piece)
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