When Google Thinks You Wrote Something Naughty

I’ve had an interesting thing happen recently, I wrote an article that Google thought was a bit too risqué. How do I know this? Because it refused to put ads on it. Apparently I had used a word or two that the site didn’t agree with.

I won’t even give you the link the article, because at this point I really don’t know how long it will be up, but I can tell it’s for Suite101 and is titled, “The Pros and Cons of Making a Sex Tape.” At least, that was the original title. I’ve been trying out different titles since then in an effort to get Google to look at it.

The article, despite its name, is very innocent and conservative. It talks about the positive and negative aspects of committed couples making sex tapes in the privacy of their own home. Pros include things like the thrill of making the tape, while cons include awkward feelings afterward. Like I said, it’s very conservative and aimed at committed couples. Not movie stars or people famous for being famous. Still, Google didn’t seem to like it.

I’ve heard of writers struggling with this before. If a writer works at a site that has ads, they have to be respectful to the people placing the ads. In this case, Google. I’ll keep trying to tweak this article in an attempt to get the ads back on, but at this point, I’m not hopeful.

Let me ask you, have you ever encountered something like this? What did you do to overcome it?

Image: sxc.hu.