ARE WE THERE YET?
There is much rejoicing amongst social conservatives in the wake of tech giant Google’s latest move against the adult entertainment industry.
Last month, Google announced it’s ad service would “no longer accept ads that promote graphic depictions of sexual acts including, but not limited to, hardcore pornography; graphic sexual acts including sex acts such as masturbation; genital, anal, and oral sexual activity.”
This website has no problem with Google’s decision. The company is accountable to its shareholders – and the broader free market. If it believes such a policy is best for its bottom line, then who are we to criticize it?
Social conservatives are thrilled.
“Setting aside any role for government and even religious overtones, can’t we just say that porn isn’t good for people, marriages or society?” one prominent social conservative told us recently.
That depends … if both partners in a marriage are on board with porn (be it consumption or production) we have a hard time saying it’s a bad thing. And it’s certainly not something government should regulate.
But Google isn’t government …
“Google is arguably the most powerful corporation in the world, and in the online advertising space it is inarguably the behemoth,” writes Brandon McGinley in this excellent piece appearing in The Federalist . “This move is a cultural censure of pornography more important than just about any legislation or court decision could ever be.”
McGinley’s piece contends that America may be approaching “peak porn,” with companies like Google “affirming what we desperately don’t want to be true, but suspect is true: porn is qualitatively different from other forms of digital entertainment.”
“This marks the first time in recent years that a corporation of such power and prestige has arrayed its forces against those of sexual liberation,” McGinley adds.
Interesting … and yet the pseudo-pornographic 50 Shades of Grey is all the rage.
Statistics on porn usage – and acceptance – are inconsistent and often contradictory, which we believe highlights its duality as well as the compartmentalization of the human mind. For example, there’s evidence to suggest regular porn users are among those who tell pollsters they find porn offensive – which we’re guessing is part circumstantial (i.e. time, place or manner) and part innate hypocrisy.
Who knows …
What we do know is this: In the world of “vice” – i.e. gambling, porn, prostitution, recreational drug use, etc. – it should always be up to the marketplace and never the government to dictate (beyond prohibitions relating to minors and non-consensual activities, anyway).
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39 comments
Kudos to Google, but further I agree with your sentiment about letting the market be free. No government interference necessary.
No doubt, a search engine for porn will spring up to fill the void…making all parties happy and a win for everyone…Google, new search provider, porn haters & lovers.
Even kids know that you just “Google” for info, so it’s good that there’s not always a porn hit in doing so(and obviously there’s no replacement for parenting, just sayin’)
Um, I don’t think Google said you can’t search for porn anymore – they just won’t accept ads that promote porn anymore.
Good point, I didn’t catch that….it’s more of an “ad sense” thing.
No doubt, a search engine for porn will spring up to fill the void…
This would be awesome. Think about it, if you search for a cake recipe, a video will pop up with a topless woman blending the cake batter with a vibrator. Imagine the possibilities!
Google would go bust within a year.
I use ad blocker so I don’t have to see creepy, old, washed-up porn actresses who are so desperate, they have to sell their images for ads to pay for their STD treatments.
You realize that stuff is personally cookied/tailored, right?
;)
I’m talking the high class ads here!
I’m talking the high class ads here!
You realize that stuff is personally cookied/tailored, right?
;)
Wait…. WHAT???
The rest of you guys AREN’T getting ads for “Brazilian Goat Porn”???
Given your lineage, I thought it might be American Buffalo Porn…huh, no accounting for predilection I guess.
:)
This decision is ultimately that of one person, he no like porn, he no show porn. (Or worse yet, he wants you to think he no like porn so he can do his perverted best with hopefully less scrutiny.) This isn’t necessarily a cultural indicator of the American people.
Correct but I don’t think Google made the decision in a vacuum …
Another victory for the collective unconscious.
Collective unconscious might not be the best guide for our actions, but it is better than the “bottom line”.
Those dog-on social Conservatives, and the Right Wing Prudes at Google who adhere. They are ruining this planet and denying the pervs their rights to molest.
There is not enough filth or vice to be seen. We desperately need more. That sucks. We need more decadence. We’re too decent as a society. What gives.
Is there a blog that you may be aware that has the best take on this you’ve ever seen?
You know, I’ve been looking for a blog that only has the best take on everything that I’ve ever seen…
Now that you’ve mentioned it.. I’m going to look for one.
How in the world are we going to find our tranny videos now? If not for the ads poping up on my blog I would never be able to find new chicks with wieners who like horse hot dogs. Bend me over an F*@k me with a fake bull d#^g, no really push that S#|t up my @$$.
DAMN! Fits suckered me in with the heading. I thought this was going to be about some really hot stuff going on in Peak. The town has fewer than 75 residents, and I was curious about the possibility of a new porn industry in town. Wait, no, Nikki would have announced the creation of new “jobs”…..
I thought he misspelled “peek”
“keep” porn……?
geek porn
It’s pr0n.
—- what is “pr0n”
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pr0n
Thanks, and this seems interesting from the definition —-
‘overeager viewing normally reserved for high quality pornography’
At least it wasn’t “Clinton porn”…..
I notice this site throws in gratuitous porn stuff once in a while for no apparent reason.
Porn=Big Hits
Sic has made a commitment to scale back the lasciviousness of his cite unfortunately, so now he has to do it on the sly.
Just a guess, but I would gander that they are about to change how and where ads show up again, and random porn ads would be bad. Since they can pretty much track you across devices (phone, computer, tablet, work computer, etc) I’m going to assume some sort of cross platform ads are coming and it’s not worth the risk for Google to have them pop up in the wrong place.
If only Fits could give us our daily does of scantly clad hot chick in high heels back….Ah the good old days.
“If only Fits could give us our daily does of scantly clad hot chick in high heels back”
———
Well, I no longer request photos of Mrs. Sic “wearing a mid-thigh skirt and six-inch high heels” because the last few times I did unmarked, dark green helicopters circled my house during the night. She is the best, though, and Sic is a very fortunate guy.
Is it fitting that there’s a T-Rav political ad in the middle of this article?
This is no different censorship campaigns in the past.
The Hearst empire was responsible for support of laws against marijuana… and of course, you know about Hobbit Lobby.
newspapers are becoming less and less common place – double entrandra.
“This website has no problem with Google’s decision. The company is accountable to its shareholders – and the broader free market. If it believes such a policy is best for its bottom line, then who are we to criticize it?”
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1: You libertarians are no better than crony capitalists in one regard. You believe that the “bottom line” should be the only consideration in making any decision. Morals or ethics should not be considered at all unless it might effect the bottom line. If Google’s decision was based on their religious values you would be offended, but if the decision is based on selfish considerations you are all for it.
If you can’t chart it in Excel it doesn’t exist.
“You believe that the “bottom line” should be the only consideration in making any decision.”
lol, aside from the lack of any understanding you have in regards to what it means to be libertarian(a clue, start and end with the non-aggression principle, then figure out who is claiming to be a libertarian on that basis), you should at least understand that it’s not morals or ethics that are a bane to libertarians, it’s the use of government to force any particular set on people outside of the NAP that is the “concern”.
There’s plenty of morals/ethics in libertarian communities, it’s just that said actual libertarians have no interest in forcing them on other people if said morals/ethics are violating the NAP.
I don’t know about the term “peak porn” but what I do know, from personal experience…wink* wink*…is that there are tons and tons of free porn websites. Ostensibly, I’ll never have to pay a dime again to look at porn.
So my question is, how does the adult industry still make its money? It seems to me that instead of “peak porn” we have “porn saturation” in the market, i.e. too much content (supply) for free. Gone are the days when the only way to get it was buying a crappy quality VHS tape for $50 in a shady adult store!!!!!!!
I like it.