Google Makes Some Interesting Ad Choices 

A friend of mine used the NYTimes.com feature that allows you to email an article link to someone, and forwarded me this essay by Maureen Dowd. I actually already read it, and have a plan to possibly blog about it at a later time, but that's not what I found interesting. She emailed it to my gmail address... and look at the screen shot (click it for a larger view)... specifically the ads that Google chose to show on the right side. I've blacked out my friend's email address, and my list of labels because... well... why do you care?



The Dowd essay has absolutely nothing to do with Bush or abortion, and in fact even if it did, it's not apparent anywhere in summary that was included in the email. The other "Most E-Mailed" articles aren't political either. Despite this however, Google's top three ads were:

Understanding Bush - How do his policies compare to past Presidents? This points to www.foreignpolicy.com

If you can't trust me - with a choice, how can you trust me with a child? bumper sticker. This points to www.dontblamemeivoted4kerry.com

Replace Bush? - Should Bush Be Replaced? Respond Now And You Can Get a Free Laptop! This points to www.my-vote-counts.com

I find this very fascinating. Some might say this is an example of Google's bias, but I don't think so. They simply put up ads that they think will generate the most clicks. So somehow, either by a person's thinking, or by some computer algorithm, they've decided that anything with either Maureen Dowd or NYTimes.com should show anti-Bush ads in order to generate the most money.