has Google got the right to display my w

[thecat]

Why has Google or any other SE got the right to display my website on its search engine? does it own the web?

if I took someone elses content or title and keywords and put the information on my site i'd be in trouble, so why can google or other SE's?

regards

thecat

[DPAGuy]

Hi Cat,

If you do not want your site listed in search engines, you need to add a robot text to you site instructing robots not to index your site.

In addition add a meta tag to each of your pages telling the robots the same thing (nothing like safety by doubling the command.)

If you're not sure how to do this, simply do a search on google for:

"Robot Text Files"
and
"No Index Meta Tag"

Both searches will yield you the information you need to set your site up to not be found via search engines courtesy of sites that do want to be found by people in need of there information, products and services.

Regards

[Sanjo]

Do you mean their cache of your website or the fact that they list it on their search results?

[greeneagle]

Why would you publish media into a public domain and not want anyone to read it (or at least the SE's to find it)?

Why would you publish it without the safeguards mentioned if you didn't want anyone to find it?

If it were a private family Site or something like that, then password it too (that's #3). Use the suggestions above and then #4; Certified Secure Site -Don't understand what you are complaining about!

Ken

[thecat]

Hi guys and thanks for the replys,

Do you mean their cache of your website or the fact that they list it on their search results?

Both!

why can they list a website on their search engine without permission from the website owner?

Why would you publish media into a public domain and not want anyone to read it (or at least the SE's to find it)?

If one should choose to put a website of whatever content on the web, they should be able to do this with out it being listed in the search engines.
Call i an act of FREEDOM!
why should webmasters have to put robot text and passwords just because a big giant company like google chooses to list our sites, do they own the web? well i think you know the answer to that one,

Don't understand what you are complaining about!

Im not complaining about the fact that the SE's list automatically the web, i just wanted to hear your opinions and i thought this was the forum to get it.

regards

thecat

[greeneagle]

Many of us have the right and access to abuse, misuse and not even understand the audience in a "public forum/media"..... Just ask Dan Rather! Whether a "Webmaster" or "Spinmaster", it's still a public forum.

LOL
Ken

[pedstersplanet]

Originally Posted by thecat

why can they list a website on their search engine without permission from the website owner?

Erm, lol, your signature......is that your site? if so why put it there if you dont want SE's to pick it up? :D

Robot text file:
Call it robots.txt, and put:

User-Agent: *
Disallow: /

save & upload it in your root directory......

Bingo......most SE's will will not crawl your site.

[C French]

The poster is not asking how to exclude robots. His question is basically nit-picking as to why Google has the right to spider & list a site with description and cache. Duplicating his content without his permission.

[sfowler]

It is simply the default setting, like the telephone book. You have to say if you do NOT want to be listed in the phone book, not say if you DO wish to be listed.

[pedstersplanet]

Originally Posted by Charles French

The poster is not asking how to exclude robots. His question is basically nit-picking as to why Google has the right to spider & list a site with description and cache. Duplicating his content with his permission.

Ok then....Internet = Open Source....... If you dont want information displayed publicly, dont publish it..
Google is a SE, so spidering is their backbone.

[cbp]

Why has Google or any other SE got the right to display my website on its search engine?

Because they can :-)

As said above, you can opt out if you don't want thm to.

CBP

[google junky]

Originally Posted by sfowler

It is simply the default setting, like the telephone book. You have to say if you do NOT want to be listed in the phone book, not say if you DO wish to be listed.

Congrats sfowler,

That was a perfect example of what we already have in our life that is exactly the same. It's just part of life. The fact that you do have an option should be good enough.

To thecat:
You had that option from the beginning when the code for your site was first published to the web. Just as the phone book comparison that sfowler brought up. I was glad to see you bring something like this up. I had never actually thought of it being like the phone book idea. I now walk away enlightened. :)

[greeneagle]

All digital circuits, all the way through and including public media have switches to set! It's just a genetic "deal" with that breed of dog/electronics/life!

If they short circuit or don't exist in the "circuit", (after the Engineer is slapped) the FCC or an individual entity out of a host of organizations, even including powerful pseudo-orgs like the W3C, has you in their sites. That's just the way the game is played!

"Smile, it's all good" (no I am not from Lousiana)

Ken

[PikoTech]

Very interesting discussion when you think about it.

Google labs actually have on their terms and conditions page that "You also agree that you will not use any robot, spider, other automated device, or manual process to monitor or copy any content from the Site." (http://labs.google.com/labsterms.html)

Yet although they do have a robots.txt file for labs.google.com Yahoo! do have the Google labs website in their index. And I'm doubting very much that they wrote to Google to get written permission to add it to their index.

Does that mean Yahoo! should be prosecuted by Google?
Also does that mean Yahoo! ignores robots.txt

Just interesting thoughts :)

[thecat]

some very funny replys,

Because they can :-) ,cbp

good answer,

pedstersplanet please READ the question, its not about any of my sites. lol is that your site? ..tut

.--------------------(

Does that mean Yahoo! should be prosecuted by Google?

thats what im talking about!

or

Does that mean Google! should be prosecuted by me?

Very interesting discussion when you think about it.

THINK ABOUT IT! really the bottom line is they havnt got permission, unless the US government has given them the speacial right, then what if they have?
theres not just .COM's on the web!

regards

thecat
(please dont ban me MOD)

[thecat]

sfowler wrote:
It is simply the default setting, like the telephone book. You have to say if you do NOT want to be listed in the phone book, not say if you DO wish to be listed.

but a telephone doesnt change the results every day
and I think Im right in saying that the telephone book is run by the Government.

cheers
thecat

[PikoTech]

thecat,

Not quite the same. Inside Google's terms and conditions it specifies bots should not be allowed to collect information from their Google Labs website AND they have a robots.txt file which disallows it (even if Yahoo! does seem to ignore it).

As mentioned previously, if you don't employ a robots.txt file Google is quite likely to index your website. sfowler hit the nail on the head with his analogy.

[PikoTech]

As a further note to the above:

Google will remove your website from their index (and very quickly) if you need to get out as soon as possible.

http://www.google.com/remove.html#exclude_website

The above link will take you to the relevant Google page.

[minstrel]

Honestly, of all the complaints about Google or any other search engine I have ever seen, this must be the silliest.

[thecat]

please understand i am not complaining,,,,sigh sigh,,

all i wanted to know is if google had the legal right to use other peoples content without the website owners permission. Or what is the legal situation.

not about robots/complaints or phonebooks,
sorry the phone book was a good point. thanks fowler.

perhaps somebody might answer the question yet.

Honestly, of all the complaints about Google or any other search engine I have ever seen, this must be the silliest.

lol that must be the silliest answer i have ever seen.
sigh

thecat

[minstrel]

All right. If the question is simply, "do they have the legal right?", the answer is "yes".

[thecat]

sorry minstrel, didnt mean to be rude.

So if they have the right to publish other peoples content, then can we?

regards

thecat

[minstrel]

No, not unless you are a search engine, which by the way gives a full and complete reference to the source as well as preserving (most) of the design features and declaring clearly that it is a cache and not the original page.

The internet did not develop as a private domain -- This is not like your personal file cabinet or desk, where you (at least in your home) have a right to expect privacy. It's more like a letter to the editor of a newspaper or a post on a forum or an appearance on a radio or TV program where presumably a lot of other people will view it. If you write a personal letter to the editor of a newspaper that you do NOT want published, I would suggest that you cearly indicate that fact in the letter.

In the case of the internet, there are clear and quite easy ways to prevent search engines from indexing your pages or images. If you choose not to avail yourself of those options, they are and will continue to be published. If you want them to have restricted publication only, use an intranet or a limited print medium.

I don't mean to be insulting to you personally, either, but I still think it's a silly question. To me, it's like standing on a soap box in Hyde Park giving a speech and then suddenly spotting someone listening and saying, "Hey! What do you think you're doing? Who said you could listen to this?".