SplatF | GigaOM
Dan Frommer, who helped to launch Business Insider and now is covering technology on his own site, describes how Google News rejected his request to be indexed because he’s a one-man shop. He posts the email from Google News explaining the policy, which includes this passage:
“We don’t include sites that are written and maintained by one individual. We currently only include articles from sources that could be considered organizations, generally characterized by multiple writers and editors, availability of organizational information, and accessible contact information.”
Frommer writes, “Never mind solo shops practicing entrepreneurial journalism — Google wants news with overhead!” Frommer writes. He argues that the policy doesn’t make sense because he’s doing the same professional work he did when he worked at Forbes and Business Insider. “Google’s best future is one where legacy media is decentralized, and where an aggregator like Google News helps people make sense of it all.” Mathew Ingram sizes up the situation and concludes, “This is just another example of how Google has failed to take advantage of Google News and its real disruptive potential.” (Poynter.org is indexed by Google News.)
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