BeeDeeDubbleU - 4:08 pm on Nov 2, 2012 (gmt 0)

The governments take a very different view of Google's responsibility than most webmasters do. The US Congress demanded that Google somehow just not index pirate sites - sounded simple enough to them! We webmasters know it's not. Google tried to explain to them there's no way to do that within the algorithm, but Congress' responses indicated they either didn't believe 'em, didn't get it or didn't care.

Google cannot hide behind the algo forever. If the algo does not produce legitimate results that comply with the law then the algo has to change. If they cannot make it work without defaming people then that is their problem. Take your webmaster's hat off for a minute and try to think like a normal person (or a legislator).

If you run a forum where someone posts offensive material then you cannot just allow anyone to post anything. That is unless of course you take google's approach and say that it has nothing to do with you because you did not actually post any offending material.

This may sound like a flawed analogy but in both cases the publisher allows offensive material to be published. In both cases they are not directly responsible for the material but they provide the mechanics that allow it to be published.