Google could make a HUGE impact if it joined Reddit on a blackout protesting SOPA/PIPA

OompaOrangeFace · 4 months

Can't Google just switch to a black background instead of a white background?

paulsagan4pres · 4 months

NO WAY I DIDNT KNOW GOOGLE WOULD MAKE A BIG IMPACT. NOBODY USES GOOGLE. ASK JEEVES BLACKOUT

alexcc098 · 4 months

I assume it's harder for Google to just simply shut down as they have contracts with their paying clients to provide advertising and/or links to their clients' websites. While almost everyone would probably agree with protesting SOPA/PIPA, they might be reluctant to do future business with a company that shuts down in protest to raise awareness when they disagree with something.

Changing background and providing a link explaining how terrible SOPA is would be much more viable for Google.

mcrob · 4 months

The Moon could make a HUGE impact if it landed for the Sandcastle competition in Miami next spring.

u8eR · 4 months

"OBVIOUS STATEMENT THAT EVERYONE ON REDDIT WOULD AGREE WITH"

Agree?

IDlOT · 4 months

How about instead of an I'm Feeling Lucky button they put an I'm Feeling Oppressed button that links to info about SOPA.

slane04 · 4 months

Already posted this but..

I worry that while in this case, a blackout would be justified, what about in other cases where it isn't as clear. Google has ENORMOUS power and are wary to exercise it. Intervening here would set the precedent for Google to intervene in other situations. Google oversees a large portion of the internet, and must maintain its motto, "Do no evil.", lest the government begin to think the business is getting too for its breeches.

I'm not saying I'm right in anything I've said, just some thoughts on the kinds of things Google may be pondering.

1gnominious · 4 months

We can live without Reddit and virtually every other site for a day. But Google... I honestly don't know what I would do if I needed to know something important. Couldn't even ask Google who else I should ask. Having Google blackout would be dangerous. That's like shutting down the traffic lights, not cool bro.

Arlecchino · 4 months

Don't you dare make me have to use Bing. I mean it.

belgianguy · 4 months

While I understand the negative exposure they might attract from blacking out completely, just adding a black ribbon to their landing page would seem out of proportion to the great efforts all the other opponents are organizing.

Hiding the landing page search box is probably also asking too much, but couldn't they leverage their logo doodle?

Isn't there some creative (HTML5?) way to show the perilous situation SOPA/PIPA would put Google (and in the larger picture, the whole Internet) in? How about a doodle that does something to the search box¹ , and/or showcases in a movie both the advantages of a free internet and the dark consequences of it being censored? It could tell their users to remember that they are key in keeping the Internet free and open, and urge them to contact their representatives to keep it that way. At the end, it could redirect to one of the most visible opposition sites.

The YouTube division could livestream the hearings, and educate its viewers.

¹ : How about having the page black with only the search box, no logo, no text, and only a small flashlight tied to the cursor position that reveals information if you move it around? So that if it moves over where the logo normally is, reveals a Google logo tied up/gagged/imprisoned/censored by SOPA tape, a PIPA prison, SOPA/PIPA censorship (mosaic, black bars). This could perhaps be the middle road between not blacking out but sharing the sentiment in their own, unique way.

Interrnet · 4 months

Honestly, people out of the loop are going to have no idea whats going on, and why their favorite sites are offline, without Google they will have no way to find out why, and this whole blackout will be subsequently useless as there will be no method for them to get information about it.

With that said OompaOrangeFace has a good point. They should just switch to a black background with information regarding SOPA. Which I assume they already have planned.

POLITE_ALLCAPS_GUY · 4 months

I WONDER HOW MUCH MONEY THEY WOULD LOSE?

earthbridge · 4 months

that would literally kill the interenet for ~80% of people

Tengil2k · 4 months

This post is /r/circlejerk-worthy.

Grayarea27 · 4 months

You know what would be funny? If Bing did a Blackout and no one noticed. Does anyone even know if Bing is doing the black out?

omizzle4shizzle · 4 months

Yup, but they're also a publicly listed company with investors that might not support something that's not directly in the name of profit (in their eyes at least, as it actually is in the long run). They should just make a Google Doodle about it or have a banner at least. Wikipedia should definitely blackout though.

Vinc3ntPh4m · 4 months

NO SHIT I WISH SOMEONE HAD COME UP WITH THIS EARLIER!

rougegoat · 4 months

Google is doing it right whereas Reddit is doing it wrong. Google, if they decide to do a blackout, will not tell people in advance about it. That way, it will have an actual impact. As the Joker once said, "no one cares if things go according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying."(quoted from memory not a source) Reddit has lowered the impact its site wide blackout will have by announcing it publicly before hand.

goans314 · 4 months

Yes I agree. Google is a hugely powerful company. They could have a big impact on any issue, but will they?

CelestialRose · 4 months

But without Google the world may end... I vote black background!

Chances · 4 months

All they would need to do is have a small banner at the bottom.

DreadPirateHenry · 4 months

A day's outage for Google represents millions of dollars in revenue. It would make a huge statement, but it's not going to happen.

BaconPancakeMix · 4 months

Well...it would be good if google would go on blackout too. BUT. There would be billions people raging. Lets just think about the people Outside the USA. Most of them has no idea what SOPA is.

HEADLINE-IN-5-YEARS · 4 months

PEOPLE STILL COMPLAINING GOOGLE.GOV TOO SLOW

overklok · 4 months

Friend of a Google lobbyist on SOPA here. The have something BIG planned!!!!!! You won't be disappointed!!!!

VicariousWolf · 4 months

Why are people against this idea? It's a good idea and won't harm anyone and will be a great way to spread awareness. Jeez.

Redditors always feel the need to argue even when there's nothing to argue about.

YourOpinionIsntRight · 4 months

i really feel like reddit just wants to see how many people they can convince to go black. turning your website off wont change anyones mind about sopa, and thinking a company like facebook or google will turn off their site and lose millions of dollars just so some teenagers can download stuff for free is just stupid

rrbest · 4 months

I like when corporations get involved in politics as if they were people.

Korger · 4 months

It would be amazing.

no_pants · 4 months

Can someone please explain to me in laymen terms, what happens to the series of tubes if this bill passes?

ewzilla · 4 months

Thank god myspace isn't blacking out, I don't know if I could cope.

coopsta133 · 4 months

This is so selfish. Find other ways to get your politics under wraps Americans than making us suffer more outside of America. We use Google too, they would never blackout globally over a local issue. Queue This affects you too rants. - yes but nothing we can do about it so why protest to us.

4 months

[deleted]

jessespots · 4 months

It would also make an impact on small businesses. But I suppose that shouldn't keep us from dreaming.

http://www.google.com/economicimpact/

Enursha · 4 months

They could also lose a HUGE amount of business

rydan · 4 months

Instead of just blacking out the page denying users all search they should have their search actually comply with SOPA for one day and show us how horrible that will be.

Rigga_Mortizz · 4 months

60 million dollar investment right there

mooremo · 4 months

The best thing they could do would be to make a SOPA google art thing on their home page. I'm not an artist so I'm not going to suggest any ideas but anything that get put there probably get clicked by some ridiculousness percentage of the sites visitors.

nodakksjs · 4 months

They have to know http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=google%20blackout&cmpt=q

GarytheOak · 4 months

honestly google just needs to go with the black background with a clear link or explanation why SOPA is bad.

For them to blackout when something like bing/yahoo/msn etc isn't would be pretty bad for business.

Senator_Christmas · 4 months

The Internet has conspired to force me to go out on my birthday this year.

[deleted] · 4 months

Fucking cat doesn't even care hes wasting water.

[deleted] · 4 months

I thought they already were going too.

NihiloZero · 4 months

I expect it would be part of a larger and general political awakening which is currently taking place. The question is whether or not they'd be willing to do some sort of protest like this if it meant jeopardizing even a tiny fraction of their immediate profits. My guess is that this is what would be the factor that stops them from doing it. How do they explain to their investors the long term repercussions of this type of legislation OR the short term loss of profits caused by such a virtual protest?

RickRollinYoda · 4 months

Not necessarily a blackout but certainly a doodle to raise awareness towards the subject which I feel Google does on a lot of topics.

apullin · 4 months

The only problem is that there is no possible way that Google could actually pull it off.

I mean, sure, they could put up a front-page that required a click-through to get to an actual search, or really do a true blackout, but the problem is that it's then taken it to an audience that likely wouldn't "get it". That is, it'd just take some slick double-talk (think "Yes on Prop 8!" for you Californians) out of the mouths of various politicians and insidious corporate wigs to throw people through a loop. Suddenly it'd be, "Google is trying to control the web, thus we need direct federal control, support SOPA!", or "Look, google is supporting SOPA with it's actions, so you should too!". These carnival barkers would know how to warp it into whatever they want.

BeepsNSqueaks · 4 months

Google makes millions per day on adwords. They'd also lose traffic to Bing & Yahoo. I don't see them doing this.

_Ruk3_ · 4 months

http://troll.me/images/ancient-aliens-guy/what-if-we-blacked-out-all-the-internet-.jpg

ActuallyNoLove · 4 months

The problem I have with reddit going down for a day is that most people would just assume that the reddit servers broke again.

Preim · 4 months

Do you all really think google hasn't already considered this and gone into much more depth than any of us have? Its not like they're stupid -.-

MrJeinu · 4 months

They wouldn't even have to blackout in my opinion. They could just have a big huge button on the homepage saying "Proposed senate and house bills SOPA/PIPA will forever alter your internet experience negatively, stifle growth, and censor free speech. Click here to learn how to stop it."

Pretty sure that alone would be enough. A couple hours of blackout could be symbolic sure, but a lot of companies depend on google for business/communications/etc.

Slapbox · 4 months

Obvious fact is obvious.

Emosewaosmi · 4 months

But if Google was blacked out, what would people use to search for the reason Google was blacked out?

Lantec · 4 months

Why not make the screen go black when they click search and then have a small piece on SOPA, then click next to go to their search results? Still passes the message but doesn't interrupt service (that much)

jamestheartist · 4 months

Operation Blackout. Anonymous

starveling · 4 months

It REALLY would I think. It would be HUGE. I mean, I think people really need to understand and PROCESS that Google blacking out with REDDIT would just be ENORMOUS.

ChoadFarmer · 4 months

Google owns half of the internet. They are like Microsoft: complain all you want, plebians.

Lilyqt · 4 months

agree

dydxexisex · 4 months

You are preaching to the choir, brother.

Traysmachos · 4 months

Not going to happend.

konaitor · 4 months

I think the idea of some of these blackouts are good, and I support the wiki blackout, since wiki tends to be a resource that is not required. However, things like google are dependent upon by so many people, and used by such a wide range of people that most don't know what these bills are. And rather than raise awareness i think it will just piss most people off, the same people they would be trying to reach.

It's kind of like some of the local protests at the Oakland ports a bit ago. The people were trying to raise support and bring attention to the issues, but instead probably angered the dock workers and people/small bus. that depend on items going through the port that day.

I think the better action would be to replace their Google ads with ads against SOPA for a day.

Also, Facebook should do the black out.

TL;DR It would hurt/upset the people who they would be trying to inform.

MyOgreOG · 4 months

Google agreed to censorship in China, they don't give a shit at this point. They are a publicly traded company that will not miss out on a buck no matter who's rights are violated in the process. The only thing they have going for them is that they aren't Yahoo.

Sherlock--Holmes · 4 months

craigslist.com is protesting SOPA also.

froggy_style · 4 months

I'll believe it when fox news decides to do a story on it.

ballstein · 4 months

They're a public company there's no way they'd do it.

[deleted] · 4 months

Then how would people search for what SOPA/PIPA is?

mattyg5 · 4 months

Thanks Captain Obvious

Avonleay · 4 months

Remember about ACTA guys...

mufaaFAT · 4 months

Google musn't join in, unless they just post up a warning. They can't just bring their entire site down because of one stupid act. MILLIONs of business depend on Google service. To put them out of business for a single day, collectively could mean a loss of billions of dollars. I hope they have some sense. Ditto for Wikipedia. Reddit is fine - it's a social network, and will create a massive impact because it's huge. But no business depends on it. In fact, hey it will increase productivity.

FluffyChihuahua · 4 months

I can just imagine in board room meeting

Google1: They want us to join SOPA blackout

Google2: Maybe we should ask CIA for permission first

Google1: Sure they wont mind, after all we have done for patriot act, i mean even tracking in tv's now thanks to googletv

Google2: One does no simply.. IOU CIA

kbox · 4 months

I wondered how long it would be before reddit started pretending this was all their idea.

Raddra · 4 months

I have been saying this for a very long time. They need to get off their heels and do it. This is a time sensitive issue, so dilly dallying going maaaaybe is something they do not have time for.

Amanitas · 4 months

this was on the front page a few weeks ago

SpecialOops · 4 months

This front page is so stupid my blood pressure rose.

feketegy · 4 months

No way that Google would blackout their homepage. Even seconds of downtime could cost them tens of thousands of dollars...

virtyy · 4 months

No shit shercock

Mazuna · 4 months

Google blackout could be a bit awkward what is SOPA? I'll just google...

BuggySC · 4 months

No shit sherlock.

kkania · 4 months

I think Google is way past the mega-corporation threshold to be able to sort this kind of thing internally, not to mention actually doing it.

h00manist · 4 months

google could at least put up a black-on-black screen or something similar

Bravo777 · 4 months

I really hope Google joins. This would be a huge plus for killing SOPA.

omarqazi · 4 months

This is essentially the same as asking Google to donate $80 million dollars to stop SOPA. Sure, it would make a huge impact, but it's understandable that they haven't chosen to do so already.

TheRPGAddict · 4 months

They should just protest it on their search page.

Dyl_Jehl_Key · 4 months

YOU DON'T SAY!!!!

TIL WE BREATHE AIR

[deleted] · 4 months

Ah, I love a good old fashioned r/politics circlejerk.

IAmAnAnonymousCoward · 4 months

/r/circlejerk

throwawayday1 · 4 months

because google wants to protect our privacy? lol

Tuxeedo · 4 months

Pff, google?

Lets ask Bing to blackout!

Almafeta · 4 months

Can't Google just buy the senators involved?

0snaps · 4 months

It could also cost them a HUGE amount of money.

Aufbruch · 4 months

It could, but honestly I'd rather it not. Important issue though SOPA/PIPA is....I'd rather not Google get into the habit of making "HUGE IMPACTS" in anything, which it has more or less avoided doing, for better and worse, during its decade+ of supremacy.

They're also not likely to.

londubhawc · 4 months

I would recommend that for the first search of each computer, once every (n) hours, it have a 10-30 second pause showing "This is what the internet will look like if SOPA or PIPA is implemented. Please contact your representatives here" followed by their regular results. Huge visibility, minimal impact on their customers or users.

freelance_writer · 4 months

Reddit is a site that does not even make a profit for its owners. Google makes millions every day from its home page. You need some gall, or some amount of reddit-narcissism to even start to compare the two sites.

godsdead · 4 months

Oh, you think?

TheRoguePractitioner · 4 months

Riddit goes offline: Some forever alones don't have entertainment for a day. They come back the next day, life goes on.

Google goes offline: The entire world can't use google, they try a competing search engine, Google loses millions of customers in one day.

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN

[deleted] · 4 months

Google does not even need to completly black out. It could to show its support make the page black instead of white and have the google logo be a link to a petition against SOPA!

meatpod · 4 months

It's already over. SOPA is as good as dead. Hell, even the White House has spoken out against it. This blackout thing is now redundant, and is really going to piss me off all day long on the 18th.

jemelvyn · 4 months

Google can't do it unless Bing did it as well. They won't risk losing customers to Microsoft.

short_lurker · 4 months

I said it once and I will say it again. Just do it without no advance notice. This will really show what kind of impact would happen when a site is taken down with no notice.

Knights_Hemplar · 4 months

They should all do it, if they set their own date and dont join reddit, reddit should block out again. Together we stand.....

creepingdeathv2 · 4 months

Dude ... If GOOGLE SIMPLY CREATES SOME SORT OF NOTIFICATION OR MAKES A FUCKIN DOODLE TO PROTEST SOPA/PIPA ... THAT WOULD MAKE A FUCKLOAD OF DIFFERENCE ... GOOGLE DOES NOT NEED TO BLACK ITSELF OUT ... BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT GOOGLE IS SCARED OF INCURRING ANGER OF CERTAIN GROUPS ...

Entershikari · 4 months

Too huge to be real too much millions lost on a black out day to make this sacrifice but it would succeed

WowHolyCrap · 4 months

fapdu blackout!

you'll need to login or register to do that

create a new account

login