ANSWER: Nothing satisfactory, as far as the company is concerned. Google has responded, but generically, and poorly. Meanwhile, press releases that verge on being pure pap are routinely displayed in Google News results.
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Background: This post is the latest relating to attempts that began here to get to the bottom of why all but a very small portion of news items published at Centcom.mil and its affliated sites are NOT being found or displayed by the Google News search engine. More background is here, here, here, and here, but this post should stand on its own for those who are new to the issue.
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I received this e-mail from Google News early Thursday evening (link supplied by Google News was made clickable for this post):
Hi Tom,
Thank you for your note about Google News. We apologize for our delayed response. Dan passed your email on to our User Support team so we can assist you. Please be assured that Google News currently includes the news site you mention. You can find articles from this publication in our results at the following link:
Additionally, please be aware that Google News doesn't currently include multimedia content, such as audio or video files. Google News offers a news service compiled solely by computer algorithms without human intervention. There aren't human editors at Google selecting or grouping the headlines, and no individual decides which stories get top placement. While our news sources vary in perspective and editorial approach, their selection for inclusion is done without regard to political viewpoint or ideology.
While we aim to include as many sources as possible in Google News, we can’t guarantee the addition of all articles and sources that are submitted to us. We appreciate your taking the time to send us your suggestions for how we can improve this service.
If you'd like more information about Google News, please check out our Help Center at http://www.google.com/support/news/. Thanks again for taking the time to write.
Regards,
The Google Team
"The Google Team" totally missed and failed to respond to this very clear e-mail's main points, which were:
- That the ONLY Centcom news being picked up by Google news is the tiny fraction relating to the Horn of Africa, as shown here and confirmed last night:
- The Multinational Force in Iraq, the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan, the International Coalition (representing the 21 nations that have deployed more than 16,000 troops to support the War on Terror), Centcom's News, and Centcom's Press Releases ARE NOT being picked up. Test them yourself at this "Google News Inclusion" link using every variation you can think of (e-mail me if you manage to find an exception, which I do not expect). Here's one I did very early this morning on the Multinational Force (plus variations, including the "www," "http://" and others):
- I suggested inclusion of these sources roughly 10 days ago, and they have, obviously, not been added. Why not?
- That Centcom press releases are being treated as blog posts and not as news by Google. And even those results are about four days behind what Centcom has at its press releases page. Why?
I sent this response to Sonya Boralv in Google in Global Communcations & Public Affairs yesterday afternoon (about Noon PT). At the time, I was under the mistaken impression that she may have been aware of the above e-mail. At this point, I'm not certain, but she now has that e-mail's contents regardless (some links were added for reader convenience):
Sonya,
The "forwarded" response ..... which I believe may have been passed through you and originally authored by someone at Google News, is incomplete, inadequate, and is technically in error.
I would be pleased to discuss those inaccuracies with you by phone (preferably) or e-mail (if you insist), or better yet, if you think it would be helpful, to speak directly with a named person in Google News.
Please be advised that GN is being perceived in a significant segment of the blogosphere, and by a small but growing percentage of the American public, as willfully preventing our military from getting its news out while at the same time allowing the fluffiest of PR releases (unrelated to the war) and those who support the enemy in Iraq (e.g., aljazeera.net) full Google News access. I'm not ready to say that this is the case, but I get closer with each passing day, and would appreciate anything you could validly do to persuade me that this is not true.
If I were forced to post based on what I have now, I would have to say that GN at a minimum hasn't done the technical work required to substantively respond to my original e-mail (which is posted here at Bizzyblog.com), and seems disinterested in resolving the larger questions.
I look forward to speaking with or getting a reply from you. I have also left a VoiceMail message for Nathan Stoll, who is the News Product Manager according to a recent blogpost at Google's corporate blog.
This e-mail will become an Open Letter post at BizzyBlog.com tomorrow unless I hear from someone by the end of the business day (CA Time). The phone number provided is my wireless number, which will not leave my side until late this evening.
Regards,
Tom Blumer
BizzyBlog.com
If you didn't click on the "fluffiest of PR releases" above, here's another chance -- it's important to understand the "oh-so-crucial news" that Google News is allowing to be included while it denies (actively, passively, or negligently -- that is yet to be determined) almost all of Centcom to get equal treatment with the official news service of the enemy.
Or maybe my priorities aren't straight, and the announcement of "Rihanna as Brand Ambassador for Chocolate by LG" really IS more important than the military's side of the news out of Iraq and Afghanistan. (/sarcasm; if you somehow missed out on these all-important matters, Rihanna is a singer, and Chocolate is a phone.)
The problem is exacerbated by what has been learned in the past few months, as it has become obvious to anyone with eyes that the supposedly "objective" news agencies -- shown to have used fauxtography (here's an Iraq example) and fake sources -- are, with full Google News (and Yahoo! News) search-engine access, assisting the enemy in promoting their propaganda line. The military's responses, when they occur, do not have such access.
Alo at Brain Shavings is working the technical end of the situation with Centcom, which, to be very clear, deserves a lot of flak for not being more proactive in ensuring that they get the news-search visibility any fair-minded person would think they're entitled to. Alo is reporting and has sent me copies of e-mails showing that some progress is being made addressing technical things that he has more knowledge of than I ever will.
We will, I believe, have something with definite conclusions and judgments to report early next week, regardless of whether I hear again from Google.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Mr. Tom Blumer...thank you fo
December 9, 2006 - 17:51 ET by bigtimerMr. Tom Blumer...thank you for fighting the good fight!
Google sucks. As far as I am concerned they are just part of the enemy within...it has been obvious to me a long time ago how left leaning they are by what they have on their homepage news service...let alone the leftist blogs.
I hope you win...for our fine military, I am so sick and tired of the leftist propaganda being main stream.
The leftists can't handle the truth....and they aren't going to let anybody else give it a try if they can help it.
"Once the coffers of the federal government are opened to the public, there will be no shutting them again." - Grover Cleveland
goog
December 9, 2006 - 19:51 ET by Tom BlumerThanks for the nice words. I hope to have something positive to report on Mon. or Tues., but I'm very unsure as to whether I will be able to.
Given that both Yahoo news
December 9, 2006 - 22:22 ET by blogonatorGiven that both Yahoo news and google news aren't picking up the CENTCOM feeds would lead one to believe the issue was with the CENTCOM feeds. It's a bit hasty to accuse Google without examining why Yahoo also isn't running the stories.
Logically, and from a PR perspective, it would make no sense for these two companies to mess with their algorythms to suppress CENTCOM news. These are two american corporations that act on behalf of their stockholders above all else, including politics. They're not so stupid to let politics interfere with revenues.
gog
December 9, 2006 - 23:08 ET by Tom BlumerI don't disagree with what you said, but the company's response that "it works already" either shows that they didn't read my e-mail, read it and blew me off, or were too dumb to understand it. Given the company involved, that last choice seems almost impossible.
I'm not in a position to speak of their motivations, and am uncomfortable assuming the best, given the well-document cooperation and acquiescence both companies have given to China's police state.
In an earlier time, someone like Google or Yahoo! would have made sure that military news was being fed into the search engines and would be working with the military to ensure that it happened. Alas, this is not 1942. But of course I don't think they're messing with the algorithms; it's the admissions process that's questionable. I DID formally ask through the normal online process for the sites in question to be allowed in about 10 days ago, and they haven't been.
We've consciously decided to focus on Google because we can only do so much, and as the post sort of indicated "we" (meaning Brain Shavings, because I'm not that strong technically) are trying to get Centcom Public Affairs Office up to speed, which isn't the easiest task on earth.
CENTCOM and Google
December 10, 2006 - 13:44 ET by blogonatorI see why you think as you do, but from analytical standpoint rather than an emotional standpoint, I question why all the stories that are there are from Dubouti. What is different, technically from "horn of Africa" stories than those of Iraq and Afghanistan? For starters, each news page is a separate website, each designed differently than the next, and according to the sourcecode, designed by a different person. Hopefully, what I present will lead you in the right direction as you seek to get to the bottom of this.
First, go to: http://www.centcom.mil/
Now, in your browser under the "View" menu, select "Page Source" (don't worry, no need to understand programming). Here's what you'll see at the top:
As you can see, the page does not list a specific author, does not give "robot" instructions, and lists Microsoft FrontPage 6.0 as it's Generator.
Now close that source window, and click the "Horn of Africa" link at the top of the CENTCOM page. View the sourcecode. Here's what you'll see:
As you can see, the author of this page was Kevin R. Walsh, and he included some more sophisticated info in the header. He listed a number of keywords AND specifically instructed web robots to parse all the content of the page. Further, Mr. Walsh posts his email, which may help answer any questions you might have.
View the source of the Afghanistan page, and here's what you'll see:
Notice the different author and none of the extra info or robot instructions.
View the source of the Iraq page, and here's what you'll see:
Obviously, this is a different author. For one, no author is listed. Second the robots command is invalid and may prevent the page from being indexed.
To sum things up, it appears that the "Horn of Africa" page was programmed by a more web savvy individual than the other two. Technically, it is designed to be properly indexed, where the others are not.
Most importantly I hope that this puts you on the right path to correcting this situation. It would seem the problem lies within CENTCOM. It isn't as exciting as nailing Google and Yahoo!, but then that's not what you set out to do; you set out to get CENTCOM's pages indexed. I hope this helps.
code
December 10, 2006 - 19:13 ET by Tom BlumerYou are exactly correct on the intent, and it would be a mistake to falsely tar either of them if they don't deserve it (saying that it's possible if I don't hear from them is another matter, and is true).
I had the same thought as you earlier today and sent an e-mail to the webmaster at the HOA inquiring about what he might have done that the others haven't.
I will be sure that Brain Shavings, the (far more) technical guy who is looking at this, is made aware of and reads your comments.
The one thing s STILL don't get given everything you've done (and thanks soooooo much for doing it), is how Centcom press releases (I'm not exactly sure which ones) are ending up in Google's blogs instead of their news.
Here's the URL for that which you'll also see in the post -- Hmm, it looks like the news is current now (was consistently 4 days old before).
Thanks again,
Tom
This is just a guess, but t
December 10, 2006 - 20:43 ET by blogonatorThis is just a guess, but they may be pinging their press releases to blog aggregators like Google, yahoo, etc. Anyone with a blog can send a "ping" to these sites which then update their search results instantly (Google/Yahoo Blogs). CENTCOM may see press releases as being more akin to blogs (self serving) and therefore ping them as such. They may see their news stories as akin to other news stories (objective) and submit them to Google news (even though that isn't completely happening).
Ultimately, I think they have web masters with varying degrees of expertise and possibly no clear-cut standardization between them all.
gve
December 10, 2006 - 21:06 ET by Tom BlumerGiven the fact that Britney's latest "revelation" can get probably get in a press release, they are underselling themselves if they really think that their press releases deserve blog status. But I did get some early indications from someone I spoke to at Centcom that they might be thinking that way. Even if the press were being fair to the military (which they clearly aren't), I wouldn't agree with that.