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Google AdWords As A Proxy For Diplomatic Disputes?
from the AdWars? dept
It's amusing to see how Google's AdWords advertising system seems to have become a means of personal expression these days. There have been stories in the past about news organizations or individuals buying AdWords based on hot news items, but it appears that others are trying to use them to make certain political statements. There's an ongoing argument between a random rock in the arctic that both Canada and Denmark claim to own. A patriotic Canadian noticed that someone had bought a Google text ad saying that the island must be Danish, and pointing to the Danish foreign ministry's Web site. So, he bought a competing ad, claiming that Canada owned the rock, thereby taking the international dispute to Google. Right now, a search on Hans Island turns up no ads, so perhaps the press attention has eaten up both warring advertisers' ad budgets. Oh well. At least it got more attention than simply fighting over it by repeatedly changing a Wikipedia entry, like some political disputes these days.
Reader Comments
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White Man's Burden
Truth is, the rock really belongs to Kalaallit Nunaat or Nunavut, which are technically independent countries from their white masters in Ottawa/Copenhagen.
During the winter, Inuits walk across the ocean to meet their cousins on the other shore. During the summer, the place is littered with icebergs, so the island is barely visible.
In Nuuk, which has probably the loosest sexual morals of any city on earth, people will literally walk up to you on the street and ask if you want to fuck.
But if you're travelling there, you'll have to expect delays of 1-14 days of air travel, whenever the sky is clear enough, and the spare parts on the airplane are working. If you trip on a rock and break your ankle, the helicopter rescue will cost $14,000 per hour, which you have to pay the pilot immediately. The pilot may ask you to help fly the plane if he is distracted with closing the cargo hatch that keeps popping open, or the wiring that has to be fixed again.
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