While Newspapers Threaten To Ban Google News, This Journalist Begs To Get In

from the not-your-site dept

Mon, Apr 12th 2010 2:25pm — Dennis Yang

Lately, it seems that most media outlets are up in arms over Google and other news aggregators using their content. So, it's somewhat ironic to hear veteran journalist, Robert X. Cringely, complain that he has wanted to be included on Google News for years, but has had a hell of a time getting listed. He goes as far as to claim that he is on a "blacklist" of news sources that are denied from Google News. While this may seem like an exciting and interesting conspiracy theory, I'd have to wonder if Occam's razor applies here. Most likely, the Google News product managers have made some sort of algorithmic decision figure into whether or not a site is included in Google News, and simply put, Cringely.com did not fit the bill. No harm or ill will need be implied. Actually, after looking at Google News' technical requirements, it appears that Cringely's site does not meet Google's requirements of a numeric URL or news site map -- so, perhaps the first step would be to satisfy those requirements.

That said, while Cringely does run an excellent site, he gives no reason why he should feel entitled to be included in Google News. After all, Google is incentivized to create the best news product that they can reasonably create, and if including a Cringely post would make Google News better for their users, then they would include it. After all, we are thrilled when Google News includes Techdirt on their site, but to this date, it is a mystery to us which posts are included -- and we don't feel entitled to that inclusion. That said, Cringely's ire is a reminder to the media outlets that there are plenty of sites that would love to take their place in news aggregators, if the opportunity should arise, so perhaps they should count their blessings for now.

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Filed Under: google news, journalism, robert x. cringely
Companies: google

14 Comments

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fogbugzd (profile), 12 Apr 2010 @ 2:31pm

Pseudonym?
Robert X. Cringely was a column on InfoWorld for years. Note that it was a column, not a columnist. It poked fun at the IT industry and the mythical Cringely himself. I hadn't thought about the column for years, but I strongly suspect it was a tongue-in-cheek effort by someone who is not Robert X. Cringely.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 12 Apr 2010 @ 2:35pm

Uh...
"While this may seem like an exciting and interesting conspiracy theory"

Truly, this would be about the least interesting conspiracy theory I can imagine. And that's coming from me, a person with an inherent love of such theories....

"Cringely's ire is a reminder to the media outlets that there are plenty of sites that would love to take their place in news aggregators"

That may be true, but they're going to have a hell of a time of it. The problem when you have a company with as much market percentage as Google is that you're less likely to be aware of both the mistakes that company is making as well as when competitors are doing it better. Not impossible, just less likely. And certainly there is nothing being done WRONG by Google in having that much of the market.

I just tend to get concerned when ANYONE is that dominant for so long.

And Dennis, not to sound like a complete dick, but walls of texts are annoying in the comments section; as an article itself it's nearly intolerable....
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Dennis Yang (profile), 12 Apr 2010 @ 2:41pm

Re: Uh...
Duly noted, DH.. you're completely right about the wall of text. I've long pestered Mike about walls of text, and here I am with my own.

In anycase, I've added a break to make it a bit more readable. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Apr 2010 @ 3:06pm

Read His Claims
Most likely, the Google News product managers have made some sort of algorithmic decision figure into whether or not a site is included in Google News, and simply put, Cringely.com did not fit the bill.

You seem to be ignoring his claim that he has inside information that that is not the case, but rather that it is a case of personal animosity from some with power within Google. That's entirely different.

After all, Google is incentivized to create the best news product that they can reasonably create, and if including a Cringely post would make Google News better for their users, then they would include it.

If the decision were being made the best interest of Google itself in mind, that would be true. However, those with power in an organization sometimes put their personal interests ahead of the organization's (e.g.sexual harassment, embezzlement, etc.). If you don't think that ever happens, you need to go check the news.
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Sysadmn, 12 Apr 2010 @ 3:52pm

Re: Pseudonym?
No, the truth is even weirder than that. Robert X. Cringely was used by several authors for the IW column. Marc Stephens used it the longest. When he was canned by IW, he kept using the name - and even won a lawsuit brought by IW's owners.

As far as "not interesting enough" or "doesn't meet criteria", if you RTA, Cringely claims that even at PBS, others had their columns indexed, but his mysteriously kept falling off the list. Don't know if that is true or not, but if this has been going on for years, maybe there is fire underneath the smoke.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Apr 2010 @ 3:56pm

the link is only directly to mark stephens page itself, where the current posting is this very topic.....but based off your no research at all, its probably not him? way to be first tho :/
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iamtheky (profile), 12 Apr 2010 @ 4:08pm

this guy has lost all reasoning and should be widely ignored. he shines best in the comments section of his blog.

"....During the 1970s I worked a lot in Africa where most of the countries weren’t that far from their colonial days. This meant that one country had an English bureaucracy, another German, etc. The bureaucracy of Libya was, and still is, I believe, very Italian in character. But the worst bureaucracy of these was the one that gave us the word itself — the French bureaucracy, which was almost insurmountable in its complexity and lack of humor. And Google, my friends, feels very French."
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Apr 2010 @ 6:13pm

Revisionist
So why did you change the title of this story from the original "Journalist Claims He Is Blacklisted From Google News" (improper capitalization and all)? That's not a minor correction, that's a major change in the lead focus of the story. I notice that you didn't note the change in the story, either (like maybe you're trying to hide it). Oh, and why are you guy blocking some comments? It all seems a little fishy and underhanded to me.
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Ronald J Riley (profile), 13 Apr 2010 @ 2:56am

Google needs their wings trimmed.
"That said, while Cringely does run an excellent site, he gives no reason why he should feel entitled to be included in Google News."

Mike Masnick, you have the answer and ignore it. Cringely is a well established author who produces interesting material and that alone is good reason for him to be included.

Where Google is concerned it is foolish to not question their motives.

No single company should be allowed to gain the degree of dominance which Google has. It is very poor public policy.

Ronald J. Riley,

Speaking only on my own behalf.
President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.
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DoxAvg, 13 Apr 2010 @ 4:19am

Re: Google needs their wings trimmed.
> No single company should be allowed to gain the degree
> of dominance which Google has. It is very poor public
> policy.

What kind of amazingly backward thinking is this? Nobody should be allowed to be this successful by serving their markets? So you want to make a regulatory environment that is actively set up to punish success simply for being successful? The current environment of punishing the abuse of your success doesn't always work the best, but God save us from Ronald J. Riley making the rules.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Apr 2010 @ 5:27am

Re: Google needs their wings trimmed.
Clearly, you are misinformed about how the Goog works ...
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Dark Helmet (profile), 13 Apr 2010 @ 6:03am

Re: Google needs their wings trimmed.
"Cringely is a well established author who produces interesting material and that alone is good reason for him to be included."

Er, that's an opinion, of course. One that may not be shared by a majority of others, or in this case, one private entity: Google.

"No single company should be allowed to gain the degree of dominance which Google has. It is very poor public policy."

I'm confused. Which part of a private company's success is a matter of public policy? I stated above that I get concerned when any corporation has as much of the market as Google does....but what does that have to do with government (public) policy?
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JayJohn, 14 Apr 2010 @ 1:30am

Media should be free. It is no wonder the integrity of many major circulating newspapers in the USA are waning.

http://www.newspaperintegrity.com/index
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Ronald J Riley (profile), 16 Apr 2010 @ 11:56am

Re: Re: Google needs their wings trimmed.
"What kind of amazingly backward thinking is this?"

Excessive market dominance has long been regulated for good reason.

Ronald J. Riley,

Speaking only on my own behalf.
President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.
[ link to this | view in thread ]