Why are Chabad.info, Chabad.org and Lubavitch.com indexed as Google News sources?
I did a Google news search for "Agriprocessors" a few minutes ago and got a result that I think clearly shows a bias in how Google selects news sources to index.
Listed in the top 10 results is a story from a Chabad blog, Chabad.info on Agriprocessors 'resurgence.'
The story is stolen from Kosher Today and used by Chabad.info without attribution.
Please click images to enlarge.
Chabad.info listed on Google News (10th link) dated June 7:
The Chabad.info post stolen from Kosher Today and used without attribution:
The original article on Kosher Today dated June 1:
But this isn't the end of Google's bizarre behavior. Look who else is considered a news source by Google – Lubavitch.com, Chabad's International Headquarters and public relations center (note the ad for Lubavitch.com at right), and Chabad.org, its international outreach website and public relations arm:
Here's Lubavitch.com:
Chabad.org:
What makes public relations material equivalent to actual news? And why is a Chabad blog like Chabad.info listed as a news source when blogs that are critical of Chabad – like this one – are not so listed and indexed and are, in fact, often persecuted by Google?
If Chabad.info is a Google News source then so should thousands of other blogs, all of who do minimal reporting.
Did you know there are many small newspapers, even some that publish daily, that Google does not index for Google News, including at least one Iowa newspaper I read? But Chabad.info and Chabad's PR organs are news?
Just like those unindexed newspapers, this blog should be indexed as a Google News source. I've broken more stories related to Agriprocessors and the kosher food industry than anyone else, print or broadcast. Add to that the first report of a conversion revocation in America and many other stories.
But don't hold your breath. It is abundantly clear Google doesn't make these decisions on merit.
I expect this is an issue that will one day be resolved in a court of law. No matter how that case comes out, Google loses. Either it will be forced to pay damages to thousands if not hundreds of thousands of websites unfairly cut out of the Google News pie and/or it will be forced to explain how it makes it decisions on who is in and who is out. Either scenario is a loser for Google, and that loss cannot come too soon.