Blogger and Google: Accountable to No One and Accessible to No One

Many of you have been following my frustrated attempt to get an impersonating blog, Little Dickie’s Diaper Droppings (I would be “Little Dickie”), taken down by Blogger.com, it’s host. Initially, the company refused to do so on the grounds that it has no responsibility for material its users upload to its server.

Today, I thought I’d try to call Blogger’s public affairs staff to advise them of my predicament. I thought that perhaps if a real person heard my story and the news coverage it’s been generated they might take a more active interest in it. But to my shock when I called Google’s headquarters and asked for Public Affairs I was told that they take no calls. I assume they meant from the general public and schmos like me and not people they really want to talk to. I even told the receptionist that the media was interested in the story of my abuse at the hands of a Blogger user and I thought it strange that no one at Google or Blogger would take my call. She again refused. When I asked her for her name she said: “I can’t give you my name.”

Since there was a phone mail option to look up employees by last name I figured just for the hell of it I’d type in Eric Schmidt’s (the CEO) name. I got back the message: “Entry invalid.” So you can’t reach Eric Schmidt or anyone who works for him either.

So there you have it. Google, and Blogger by extension, is a company accessible to no one (at least no one they do NOT want to talk to) and accountable to no one (at least no one like me). That’s the way to build a corporate reputation, wouldn’t you say? It reminds me of the hubris Microsoft has shown in its former days of corporate titanism. Google, I think, should remember the drubbing MS took over the years for its oblivious attitude to what the public thinks of it. Responsiveness to the public is a good thing. Shutting yourself behind a wall of silence isn’t.

And to contrast Google/Blogger’s high and mighty attitude with that of another webhost. When I brought the hardline Kahanist Masada2000 site to the attention of Bsinet and pointed out the violent, assaultive nature of some of the anti-woman rhetoric on their site it was taken down within 24 hours. Not all web hosts are impenetrable and unaccountable it seems.

I’ve pitched the story to the local TV station news departments and hope one might be interested. If anyone reading this by any chance does have an internal Google phone number for their Public Affairs staff or a senior executive, I’d appreciate getting it.