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from the as-if-addiction-were-only-temporary dept.
Google temporarily bans addiction center ads globally following exposure of seedy referral deals
Google is temporarily halting advertisements worldwide for addiction and rehabilitation centers, following a report last week showing it was acting as a platform for shady referral services earning huge undisclosed commissions.
Essentially these ads, which commanded huge prices on Google's networks, would show for people seeking addiction treatment; the help lines and services listed would then refer the person to an addiction center. These centers were, unknown to their new patients, paying enormous finders fees to the referral services, on the order of tens of thousands of dollars.
The ads were already banned in the U.S., but were banned in the UK following a Sunday Times investigation. Google then extended that ban worldwide.
Also at The Verge.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday January 16 2018, @05:16AM (6 children)
Addiction treatment will be covered by insurance - if they really do have insurance.
I was in Washington's Western State Hospital for six months. You do the math.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 16 2018, @05:24AM (1 child)
They use solid gold electrodes for your shock therapy?
(Score: 3, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday January 16 2018, @06:21AM
Each ward only holds a couple dozen patients, but even so they have five or six staff members in each one.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 16 2018, @07:02AM (1 child)
A lot of us question the efficacy of addiction "treatment".
Does it really work, or is it mostly an excuse for someone ( "care provider" ) to open up a charge number on someone else's account?
I know I have tried to counsel some people to ditch the drugs, but the most common response is that "I just don't get it. Buzz off!"
I guess I am used to being told where to go when I try to intervene. But when I am put on the spot to dig 'em back out, why am I not supposed to do what I've been told to do?
Suddenly, the "Have a Heart" people want legal power to requisition my resources to fund their bailout efforts? Buzz off!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 16 2018, @11:53AM
Sure it works. It works ONLY if the patients want it to work. So treatment centers provide a supportive environment for this. But that's about as far as it works. You can't ditch addiction by going to treatment centers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 17 2018, @12:06AM (1 child)
"I was in Washington's Western State Hospital for six months". [...]
Only females with mouths to feed qualify for admittance to Western State Hospital.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday January 17 2018, @01:06AM
"I mouthed off to a judge."
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]