Google does not understand the word hacking

gabor on 2005-12-29T16:29:25

I am using Google Adwords to promote the Open Source Developers' Conference and the Hackathon.

The rejected one of my ads and when I asked them to reconsider this was their response:

Thank you for your email. I understand you are concerned that your ad in the OSDC Campaign has been disapproved for hacking as we regard this as Unacceptable Content.

I have looked into this and can confirm that your ad text is in fact in violation of our AdWords policy with the phrase 'start hacking now'. I encourage you to edit this ad text to 'how to prevent hacking' or something of a similar nature that does not appear to be promoting hacking. A change of this type would be in accordance with our guidelines.

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Can't blame them.

Abigail on 2005-12-30T09:59:27

Google is right. Unlike most programming languages, natural languages are a moving target. What something means isn't determined by some rules and set in stone - the meaning of words and phrases change over time. Get over it - this is 2005, not the 1970s. For the world at large, 'hacking' means illegal access to computer systems. Google aims to serve the world at large, not some hippies who're stuck in the past.

I think this could be considered evil by some.

rblackwe on 2006-01-07T01:52:32

I wonder if this gets advertised with Ad Words.