Google is now censoring firearms-relating shopping results.

[Frontier]

That's right. As of 24 hours ago Google stopped displaying results for shopping related to "weapons", although you can apparently still shop for combat knives. I was a bit shocked to read this, and in fact I still had some google shopping tabs open in another window that I was using to find good prices on a rifle I'm interested in buying. So I went over to the window, clicked refresh, and it all disappeared, it's real.

First thing I did: remove google from all search features. I am now using a combination of Duckduckgo.com, Bing and Yahoo. Believe me, I understand how prolific Google is for the average user, its homepage pretty much is the internet for most of us. But Google has made it clear that it is more interested in siding with those who do not respect ALL of our amendment rights. I am making it clear that I will not conduct any business whatsoever with Google. I hope that all of my fellow INGO members will recognize the importance of this and do what they feel right to voice discontent, whether it be changing search engines, or writing to Google, an action of which I am still weighing the value. Thanks INGO.

***NOTE: This applies to Google Shopping, you will still be able to find vendors, but will not be able to go 'shopping' for firearms or ammunition while using the Google Shopping feature***

 

[Que]

I just did a search for AR 15, Sig Arms pistols, and a few others and had no problem.

 

[threefiftyfour]

too bad I love my android so much...

 

[The Keymaster]

Please note that this only affects Google Shopping. This does not affect Google search results. I just did a search for Walther P22, and it returned hundreds of vendors.

 

[ghitch75]

i use Chrome and i get no blocks.....you must have something else goin' on

 

[threefiftyfour]

use google shopping

 

[Frontier]

I just did a search for AR 15, Sig Arms pistols, and a few others and had no problem.

Try going to Google Shopping and look up any gun, Colt 1911 for instance.

 

[Lammchop93]

Now I know why when I searched Smith and Wesson 500 rifle this more and clicked shopping, nothing popped up. This is just ridiculous. I lose faith in humanity more and more every day.

 

[K_W]

Noticed this too, looking for 870 stocks.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/...g-to-censor-all-gun-ammo-accessories-results/

Time to start email campaigns.

 

[Slapstick]

Sure enough, Google shopping returned this, "Your search - sig p226 9mm - did not match any shopping results." or this, "Your search - m&p 9mm magazine - did not match any shopping results."

 

[Frontier]

Noticed this too, looking for 870 stocks.

Time to start email campaigns.

Wow, I really didn't think they would go so far as to censor parts but I am continuously amazed by their audacity.

 

[Slapstick]

This might be the reason: but it maybe just about money.

"Google Shopping

First, we are starting to transition Google Product Search in the U.S. to a purely commercial model built on Product Listing Ads. This new product discovery experience will be called Google Shopping and the transition will be complete this fall. We believe that having a commercial relationship with merchants will encourage them to keep their product information fresh and up to date. Higher quality data—whether it’s accurate prices, the latest offers or product availability—should mean better shopping results for users, which in turn should create higher quality traffic for merchants.

We’re giving merchants a few months to transition to this new model, and we’re also offering some incentives:

• All merchants who create Product Listing Ads by August 15, 2012 will automatically receive a monthly credit for 10% of their total Product Listing Ad spend through the end of 2012; and
• Existing Google Product Search merchants can receive $100 AdWords credit toward Product Listing Ads if they fill out a form before August 15, 2012."

 

[CX1]

They are transitioning to commercial model for Google shopping. Along with firearms, other products will no longer appear in the new system:

Other prohibited categories

The following products are not allowed on Google Shopping:

• Vehicles
• Guns, ammunition and knives
• Tobacco and cigarettes
• Traffic devices (Learn more)
• Products related to casino and gambling
• Products or digital goods that require additional software installation in order to be purchased.
• Products bundled with service plans. (Note: The only products that are allowed to be submitted with a service plan are mobile devices.)

Taken from http://support.google.com/merchants/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=188484#US

 

[handgun]

Why on earth would you use google shopping anyway. Usually the prices amd companies it cross references are in bed with google or a google owned etc.. makes no sense i never liked that feature on google anyway no loss to me.

 

[CX1]

Why on earth would you use google shopping anyway.

I never did to purchase an item. But I did like the the ease to get an idea of the average cost spread of an item and often there are links to reviews of the item. A research tool more then a shopping tool basically.

 

[Lammchop93]

does anyone know an email address we can start emailing and letting them know how we feel?

 

[Que]

Try going to Google Shopping and look up any gun, Colt 1911 for instance.

Okay, I didn't even realize such a thing existed.

 

[Tebow]

does anyone know an email address we can start emailing and letting them know how we feel?

I too would like to know.

 

[Frontier]

Okay, I didn't even realize such a thing existed.

Ah jeez, you've been missing out! I normally use it to see what the going price range is on firearms, ammo, parts, etc. in addition to finding the lowest online offered price for whatever you're looking for. This can still be done using Bing, just takes some getting used to.

 

[JetGirl]

Um... I'm cornfused. I first tried with Frontier's suggestion of "Colt 1911", which indeed hit a "no match" block when I clicked "shopping".
Then I typed in "1911 slim grips", clicked "shopping" and got pages of them.