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[–]OompaOrangeFace 293 points294 points ago

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

[–]Sk3tch3r 202 points203 points ago

Yeah, a black background with a single link explaining why. Which would lead to a site that would explain the dangers of SOPA and whatnot. However they would need to keep their search box there, because God forbid i have to use Bing or even worse, Yahoo.

[–]862493175 33 points34 points ago

Bing powers Yahoo's search results so no difference between using either.

[–]Sk3tch3r 24 points25 points ago

Egads man, are you saying that their evil has the same root!?

[–]HungryHippo1492 18 points19 points ago

The root user of all evil?

[–]zeHobocop 12 points13 points ago

Sudo crappy search

[–]HungryHippo1492 11 points12 points ago

sudo upvote -a

[–]boxmein 7 points8 points ago

# upvote -r *  

that's what I'd do at least

[–]tombuben 2 points3 points ago

while content.quality>=alot {upvote;}

[–]zeHobocop 2 points3 points ago

Now I'm trying to think how to turn that into one of these: http://tinyurl.com/29zllts

[–]ply447 71 points72 points ago

I intend to be black-out drunk during the blackout anyways, so it doesn't affect me.

[–]waveglider 28 points29 points ago

Your drunk self might get incredibly mad at the blackout and then who knows what could happen?

[–]ply447 14 points15 points ago

That is half of the fun, calling your friends/relatives to find out why there is a 4 foot hole in your bedroom wall.

[–]Lingua_Franca2 68 points69 points ago

I CAN'T GOOGLE HOW TO MAKE A GOD DAMN COSMOPOLITAN? HULK SMASH!

[–]Fornicated 3 points4 points ago

Great. I need to clean my drink off my monitor.

[–]adomorn 5 points6 points ago

Yahoo still has its own search technology?

[–]pariser 16 points17 points ago

It's more like a high tech version of a cardboard cutout that they put in front of Google's http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/microsofts-bing-uses-google-search.html

[–]ChristDisciple 1 point2 points ago

That would be Bing, not Yahoo...

[–]pariser 5 points6 points ago

As stated above, Bing powers Yahoo. Their search technology is all one in the same.

[–]Mooseisloose 2 points3 points ago

So pretty much Blackle?

[–]Harakhte[S] 29 points30 points ago

At the very least, a black background would get people's attention.

[–]JohnnyHopkins22 13 points14 points ago

so just like blackle? google's energy saving search engine.

[–]yjsoon 6 points7 points ago

It's not "Google's" energy saving page, a third party made it up to try and get search revenue through their page.

[–]halflifedarkness 14 points15 points ago

When today there are LCDs everywhere, that's bullshit.

[–]Kornstalx 9 points10 points ago

Blackle has been around for like six years man, chill.

[–]possessed_flea 10 points11 points ago

yeah, but the people that are still using CRT's are the people that need those extra few cents off their power bill the most.

[–]gunnerheadboy 11 points12 points ago

Also AMOLED.

[–]supson6437 0 points1 point ago

very good point

[–]paulsagan4pres 1020 points1021 points ago

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

[–]SwordOfOmens 278 points279 points ago

Geocities is ahead of all these guys at blacking out.

[–]ccccccccccooooo 64 points65 points ago

RIP

[–]Doctective 1 point2 points ago

Too soon?

[–]asciicat 108 points109 points ago

[–]KahOD 61 points62 points ago

[–]MSpainting 20 points21 points ago

[–]EvilbuddhaNZ 26 points27 points ago

[–]NoFeetSmell 4 points5 points ago

This is the best use of googly-eyes mankind has yet produced. Whoever made it should get a fucking medal or something. Or maybe a new washing machine?

[–]off_topic_commenter 12 points13 points ago

[–]Shapeshyft 17 points18 points ago

it's like a time machine... to the 90's

[–]fuLc 2 points3 points ago

lmao it's still the good ole days imo.

[–]GreetingsIcomeFromAf 9 points10 points ago

Actually almost all of Geocities was backed up. Most Geocities addresses can be accessed by changing the address to Reocities.

www.reocities.com

[–]Volkrisse 10 points11 points ago

Angelfire bro lol

[–]mpxd 8 points9 points ago

Geocities knows how to party.

[–]Windshield 36 points37 points ago

Who is Jeeves Blackout?

[–]greg_lw 24 points25 points ago

That sounds like such an awesome name.

If I was a spy, that would be in my passport.

[–]klutch2 1 point2 points ago

The name is Blackout. Jeeves Blackout.

[–]FullSail 12 points13 points ago

why don't you ask jeeves?

[–]froggy_style 6 points7 points ago

Who is justice beaver?

[–]dopesmope 7 points8 points ago

a crime fighting beaver. duh

[–]BroboCop3 2 points3 points ago

I don't know but I can't wait for his album to drop.

[–]ell0bo 13 points14 points ago

dude... let captain obvious wear his cape for a day

[–]siperwrx 11 points12 points ago

I hear Tripod.com and Lycos.com have joined the fight!

[–]javoll 8 points9 points ago

dont forget angelfire

[–]flecko 5 points6 points ago

And altavista

[–]anderssj 6 points7 points ago

Maddox will also be blacking out his critiques of childrens artwork

[–]1BadAssMotherFucker 2 points3 points ago

dogpile blackout!

[–]YourDentist 3 points4 points ago

I mean there's NO WAY we're letting them join us, the most important web page on the entire internet!

[–]technomad 5 points6 points ago

Obviously you're being sarcastic, but if Google did black out the first thing people looking to search would do is try one of the competitors. That's why I think Google would never do this. However, what would work is the idea suggested below of having a black search screen with a link to information about SOPA/PIPA, and a form users could use to contact their senators or whatever.

[–]alexcc098 70 points71 points ago

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.

[–]adrianmonk 3 points4 points ago

harder for Google to just simply shut down as they have contracts with their paying clients

I don't know specific details about any contracts, but I believe that generally speaking, ads on google.com (etc.) are placed through the AdWords program, which AFAIK doesn't really guarantee your ad will be placed.

Instead, you set prices you're willing to pay (i.e. I want to pay no more than 50 cents for ads that pop up when the user searches for "new york taxi"), and every time search results are served, a super-fast mini auction takes place to figure out whether to show your ad or someone else's, based on how much they're willing to pay, whose budget is exhausted, etc.

So, the point is, if the going rate for "new york taxi" is 50 cents, and you are willing to pay 45 cents, you may or may not get ads placed. So in general, there is no expectation that just because you signed up that you will get your ads placed. On the other hand, maybe there is some written guarantee that Google will follow a certain set of rules when dealing with ads.

they might be reluctant to do future business with a company that shuts down

That's a valid point. In business, people like reliability and predictability. They like to work with people who they can believe are taking things seriously and doing their best to deliver whatever it is they deliver.

[–]mcrob 130 points131 points ago

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

[–]RobotFolkSinger 16 points17 points ago

Wow, that's a really realistic sculpture of a crater! Such scale, too.

[–]u8eR 388 points389 points ago

"OBVIOUS STATEMENT THAT EVERYONE ON REDDIT WOULD AGREE WITH"

Agree?

[–]stone500 100 points101 points ago

Hey Reddit! I think that air is an awesome natural resource because without air, we would die! Agree?

[–]Flippant_Follower 37 points38 points ago

NO FUCK YOU AIR IS SATANS FARTS AND WE MUST BE RID OF IT

[–]Coehld 57 points58 points ago

"CIRCLEJERKY REPLY THAT ALSO IS GENERALLY WELL LIKED"

[–]TSVDL 38 points39 points ago

"WITTY MEME REFERENCE FURTHERING THE CIRCLE JERK"

[–]schabrackentapir 46 points47 points ago

"I DID NAZI THAT COMING"

[–]Doctective 8 points9 points ago

Anne Frankly... I don't think I ever will!

[–]Zanhana 15 points16 points ago

"SO BRAVE"

[–]Sim-Sala-Bim 26 points27 points ago

I'm an atheist with a phd in science engineering so you know my critical thinking shouldn't be questioned when I say that if Ron Paul were president, there would be no sopa/pipa, instead caturday will be recognized as a holiday to commemorate these bills being put to rest.

[–]Juz16 2 points3 points ago

yes

[–]rougegoat 8 points9 points ago

he's so brave

[–]Sk3tch3r 7 points8 points ago

No.

[–]IDlOT 15 points16 points ago

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 17 points18 points ago

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.

[–]bettermouse 4 points5 points ago*

Too big for it's britches?

*This correction brought to you by Google

[–]ermintwang 6 points7 points ago

*its

[–]1gnominious 8 points9 points ago

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.

[–]xtfftc 0 points1 point ago

Just a side question: isn't it also dangerous to rely so much on one single company?

[–]Arlecchino 5 points6 points ago

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

[–]belgianguy[!] 5 points6 points ago

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 34 points35 points ago

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.

[–]Timid_Pimp 6 points7 points ago

I thought the idea was to replace the website with an info page on SOPA that would inform users on what's going on.

[–]dannyoo 3 points4 points ago

Don't you think a complete black out might lead to at least some media coverage? As in: Facebook down -> wtf? -> google down -> WTF? News picks up the story perhaps?

[–]reddiculon 27 points28 points ago

"News just in: Anti-government activists brought down the internet this morning protesting in support of piracy."

[–]ultragnomecunt 3 points4 points ago

You meant "Anti-government terrorists brought down the internet this morning protesting in support of piracy.

[–]reddiculon 6 points7 points ago

cuts to people in the street

"Alls I was wannin da do was see who won the football, how can they bring down the footballl?"

"This is outrageous! I am a legitimate business man and we rely on the internet. I am going to have to let people go if I can't use email!"

[–]KevinIsPwn 2 points3 points ago

Yeah, I know several people like this.

The kind of person that enters "sitename.com" into the searchbar.

[–]POLITE_ALLCAPS_GUY 57 points58 points ago

I WONDER HOW MUCH MONEY THEY WOULD LOSE?

[–]healthybigmac 21 points22 points ago

That's something I don't really get. A sentiment like that seems really dumb from a business perspective. The amount of money they would lose with a blackout for one day while also having the potential to make a huge impact in regards to SOPA/PIPA <<<<<< the money they would lose if either were to pass.

That or some other huge reason I'm not taking into account.

[–]baddox 19 points20 points ago

Your claim relies on the assumption that there is a large chance of the laws passing without Google blacking out, and a small chance of the laws passing if Google does the black out. Either of those may not be true by Google's estimation.

[–]RagingRugburn 0 points1 point ago

What it comes down to is that they misunderstand the impact of doing a blackout. They probably think that the risk of doing this is not worth the reward of what they think it is.

[–]ModerateBias 2 points3 points ago

in case you've missed it, the president promising to veto the bill has already more or less killed the thing... so why would google choose to lose money on the matter?

[–]healthybigmac 0 points1 point ago

Just like how he promised to veto the NDAA? I don't trust the president to do a damn thing about this.

[–]sje46 0 points1 point ago

He didn't promise, he threatened. He didn't do it because it passed with 90% support by Congress and thus would have passed anyway and would have done irreparable political damage.

[–]ModerateBias 0 points1 point ago

he didn't promise to veto the ndaa. see thats the problem with the reddit politics, they make up promises that were never made so they can complain when they are broken

[–]doubleone 0 points1 point ago

I think Google makes around 90 million dollars a day. I would be willing to bet they would loose even more then that if they blacked out for a day because they would not only not make any money that day but also the P.R. mess it would cause with customers that have businesses that depend on them. I think they would be better off just buying a 84 million dollar time slot and make a 6 million dollar, 14 minute long multipart infomercial and play it during the Superbowl.

[–]llbad 0 points1 point ago

Try explaining that to your shareholders

[–]earthbridge 13 points14 points ago

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

[–][deleted] 31 points32 points ago

A fair demonstration of what these bills would do.

[–]earthbridge 11 points12 points ago

good point.

[–]AceDecade 4 points5 points ago

This kills the internet.

[–]Tengil2k 2 points3 points ago

This post is /r/circlejerk-worthy.

[–]Grayarea27 7 points8 points ago

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 2 points3 points ago

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 1 point2 points ago

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

[–]rougegoat 12 points13 points ago

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.

[–]martrinex 13 points14 points ago

By reddit publicly saying it will be doing a blackout and when, that information is allowing other web companies to consider and coordinate their down times even if they are less public themselves about it.

[–]l33tbot 10 points11 points ago

I disagree. By announcing the blackout, Reddit has flagged to other sites and sponsors that they mean business. If Google announced a blackout in advance, it would send a signal to other players to do the same thing, thus increasing the impact of the blackout. This will be achieved through solidarity, not some surprise shock and awe tactic.

[–]goans314 1 point2 points ago

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

[–]CelestialRose 5 points6 points ago

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

[–]Chances 1 point2 points ago

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

[–]DreadPirateHenry 1 point2 points ago

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 1 point2 points ago

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 1 point2 points ago

PEOPLE STILL COMPLAINING GOOGLE.GOV TOO SLOW

[–]overklok 1 point2 points ago

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

[–]VicariousWolf 1 point2 points ago

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 1 point2 points ago

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 8 points9 points ago

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

[–]Korger 0 points1 point ago

It would be amazing.

[–]no_pants 2 points3 points ago

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

[–]harlomcspears 2 points3 points ago

If anyone tries to wash their hair down your tubes, you get your tubes taken out by the government plumber.

[–]ewzilla 1 point2 points ago

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

[–]coopsta133 1 point2 points ago

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.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]jessespots 0 points1 point ago

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 1 point2 points ago

They could also lose a HUGE amount of business

[–]rydan -1 points0 points ago

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.

[–]rougegoat 4 points5 points ago

wouldn't that be the exact same as normal due to the fact that SOPA requires a third party to report the domain to be blacklisted? So since no one would have reported any domains as being infringing, there would be no difference in the search results.

[–]Rigga_Mortizz 1 point2 points ago

60 million dollar investment right there

[–]mooremo 1 point2 points ago

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.

[–]GarytheOak 1 point2 points ago

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 1 point2 points ago

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

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

Fucking cat doesn't even care hes wasting water.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

I thought they already were going too.

[–]NihiloZero 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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 1 point2 points ago

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 -1 points0 points ago

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

[–]ActuallyNoLove 0 points1 point ago

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 1 point2 points ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

Obvious fact is obvious.

[–]Emosewaosmi 0 points1 point ago

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

[–]Lantec 0 points1 point ago

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 1 point2 points ago

Operation Blackout. Anonymous

[–]starveling 0 points1 point ago

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 1 point2 points ago

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

[–]Lilyqt 0 points1 point ago

agree

[–]dydxexisex 0 points1 point ago

You are preaching to the choir, brother.

[–]Traysmachos 0 points1 point ago

Not going to happend.

[–]konaitor 1 point2 points ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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 -1 points0 points ago

craigslist.com is protesting SOPA also.

[–]froggy_style -1 points0 points ago

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

[–]ballstein 1 point2 points ago

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

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points ago

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

[–]mattyg5 0 points1 point ago

Thanks Captain Obvious

[–]Avonleay 0 points1 point ago

Remember about ACTA guys...

[–]mufaaFAT 1 point2 points ago

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.

[–]Kaevex 2 points3 points ago

That's the entire point. We want to bring a message and it'll only be stronger when people/companies are actually affected. They'll start understanding what effects SOPA/PIPA might have.

[–]FluffyChihuahua 1 point2 points ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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

[–]Raddra 0 points1 point ago

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.

[–]SpecialOops 0 points1 point ago

This front page is so stupid my blood pressure rose.

[–]feketegy 0 points1 point ago

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

[–]virtyy 0 points1 point ago

No shit shercock

[–]Mazuna 0 points1 point ago

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

[–]BuggySC 0 points1 point ago

No shit sherlock.

[–]kkania 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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

[–]Bravo777 0 points1 point ago

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

[–]omarqazi 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

They should just protest it on their search page.

[–]Dyl_Jehl_Key 0 points1 point ago

YOU DON'T SAY!!!!

TIL WE BREATHE AIR

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

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

[–]IAmAnAnonymousCoward -1 points0 points ago

[–]throwawayday1 0 points1 point ago

because google wants to protect our privacy? lol

[–]Tuxeedo 0 points1 point ago

Pff, google?

Lets ask Bing to blackout!

[–]Almafeta 0 points1 point ago

Can't Google just buy the senators involved?

[–]0snaps 0 points1 point ago

It could also cost them a HUGE amount of money.

[–]Aufbruch 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

Oh, you think?

[–]TheRoguePractitioner -1 points0 points ago

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] 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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

[–]short_lurker 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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

[–]creepingdeathv2 0 points1 point ago

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 0 points1 point ago

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

[–]WowHolyCrap 0 points1 point ago

fapdu blackout!