DVDBurning - 7:43 pm on Apr 7, 2004 (gmt 0)

While I agree that we should have a right to free speech, and while I understand Google's reluctance to start playing traffic cop, there are a number of intertwined issues here.

First - Does Google filter pages or sites manually? Sure they do.

Second - Should they remove objectionable sites from their index, and how do they define "objectionable"? This is kind of a political issue, but I would suggest that it is a business issue. If the overwhelming majority of Google visitors are disgusted by these sites, Google would be well-advised to filter them out one way or another. Look at MSN... they and others advertise their filtering capabilities, selling it as a value-added feature.

Ultimately, I think Google will do better if they continue to improve their ability to listen and speak with their customers... webmasters and web surfers alike. Googleguy showing up here at WW is outstanding. But I believe in the cluetrain manifesto.... you can't hide behind marketing slogans or rhetoric. Google doesn't want to discuss or reveal the secret sauce, but the questions and concerns won't go away until they discuss important policy elements openly.