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posted by martyb on Friday March 02 2018, @07:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the under-the-gun-to-do-something dept.

Google has banned items containing the string "gun" in the name on its e-commerce search platform, accidentally targeting many innocuous items:

Google Shopping, which allows users to compare product prices from thousands of online retailers, has removed all 'gun' search results - even if the product is not gun-related.

Online shoppers have complained about being unable to browse dozens of products such as Burgundy wine, water guns and music by American rock band Guns N' Roses. Searches for products including nail guns, glue guns and Arsenal Football Club's Gunnersaurus dinosaur mascot also returns the message: "Your search did not match any shopping results."

Google has banned weapons listings since 2012, however online shoppers have highlighted certain product unavailability since the Florida school shooting on Valentine's Day which left 17 dead.

The block could be circumvented using alternate terms such as "handgnu" or "fully automatic firearm".

Also at Engadget.


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Friday March 02 2018, @07:27PM (4 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 02 2018, @07:27PM (#646566) Journal

    Google's gun is indiscriminately mass shooting down websites, whether or not they are related to the target criteria. Shoot first, ask questions later. The NRA would be proud of Google.

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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday March 02 2018, @07:39PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 02 2018, @07:39PM (#646574) Journal

    But my website offers barguns on items.

    And his website is a monument to president Raygun.

    And her website complains about dawgun furriners.

    Some websites have not begun to talk about guns and there four should not be targeted. Or they have misbegun.

    No more shopping for burgundy.

    And Gundies auto recyclers [gundies.com] will not be pleased. Neither will Laguna tools [lagunatools.com].

    All websites will need to clean out all the gunk in their pages.

    Anyone who is a ramgunshoch [collinsdictionary.com] will probably be mad enough to get a gun.

    Sorry people who eat salmagundi, you won't find it on Google Shopping.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 02 2018, @11:58PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 02 2018, @11:58PM (#646716)

    Name the last NRA member to gun down a bunch of people.

    Ironic that Google breaks the spirit of the first amendment to take out the second. Kind of shows why we have them.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @07:32PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @07:32PM (#647217)

      The last NRA member to gun down a bunch of people hasn't been born yet.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday March 05 2018, @03:26PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 05 2018, @03:26PM (#647988) Journal

      NRA members don't have to gun down people when they enable and possibly encourage others to gun down people.

      NRA is a gun manufacturer's association. Its mission is to increase sales of firearms. Period. What those weapons are used for is none of its concern.

      If this were not so, then NRA would support some sane controls. Like preventing certain people from having, owning, obtaining, or even possessing guns. It shouldn't be easier to get a gun than to get a beer, or get a drivers license. Getting a gun should require a certain certification of marksmanship, just as driving a car requires certain (albeit low) standards be met by the license applicant. Getting a high capacity automatic weapon shouldn't be easier than getting a hand gun.

      So please don't ask me about NRA members gunning down people. That's just a rationalization.

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      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.