Search This, AOL
Who knew it would be so complicated to get my website unlisted from the AOL search engine? I didn’t know. Did you know? I didn’t know.
First of all, the problem is different than I thought. This isn’t like Google, where your site comes up if certain key words are located in the text of your site. For example, if someone typed sucking hot cocks into Google, my site might come up if it contained the following sentence: “The weather was sucking majorly yesterday morning, because it was so hot out, and I knew it wasn’t even six in the morning yet because the cocks hadn’t begun to crow.” (Of course, my site now contains that sentence. Terrific.)
With the AOL search engine it’s different. Apparently they classify sites into certain categories. For a long time I was wondering why people were getting to my site from such search requests as “80 year old woman naked” or “13 year old sucking a penis” or “massive cocks,” and it left me feeling pretty disturbed. I always imagine the seeker of such information to be a cross between a mustachioed closeted guy from rural southwestern Virginia and the Comic Book Guy from “The Simpsons.” It sure is interesting what people look for on the Internet when they think nobody’s looking.
At any rate, if you click on this, for instance, you will see my site listed. You won’t see any particular key words from my site — you’ll just see my main URL. I checked several of these requests and realized that some idiot at AOL must have classified my site as a porn site. I assume that the person must have seen the gay content of my site and automatically equated it with pornography, which, even if no malice was intended, majorly offends me.
Last week I went to the AOL Search feedback page, only to find that the server was down, so none of my requests for help could even be submitted.
Last Friday, I finally sent an e-mail to support@aol.net.
NOTE: majorly lengthy bureaucratic correspondence ahead.
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e-mail: fois25@yahoo.com
subject: please remove my site from your search engine
Hi,
Please remove my site, http://tinman.blogspot.com, from your search engines. In the past two weeks, the referral stats for my site have turned up an incredible number of sex-related AOL search requests. I have no idea why these sex searches are bringing up my site, as I do not run a sex-related site. I have contacted the Open Directory Project but have received no response.
I would much appreciate either that you remove my site or, if this is not possible, that you send me a response detailing what must be done.
Thank you,
[me]
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The response:
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Dear Fois25,
Hi, my name is Grace . Thank you for writing to America Online Techmail Department. It is my pleasure to assist you regarding any concerns that you may have.
I understand from your email that you would like to remove http://tinman.blogspot.com from AOL search.
On America Online, please go to Keyword: MEDIA SPACE.
On the Internet, please go to the Media Space Web page at: http://mediaspace.aol.com.
It has been a pleasure assisting you. It is my hope that the information provided would be of great help with regards to your concern.
Please let us know immediately about any further inquiries or comments you may have. I will always be ready and happy to assist you. Thank you very much for your continued support.
Grace P.
The TechMail Department
America Online, Inc.
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I went to the site she suggested, http://mediaspace.aol.com. Gee, that’s helpful.
I sent another e-mail, also to support@aol.net. Unfortunately, this channels your e-mail to a different person every time, so I made sure to paste the previous correspondence below the new message. I wrote:
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subject: Please remove my site from your search engine
Thank you for your timely response. I went to the website you suggested, http://mediaspace.aol.com, and I do not understand how the site relates to my problem. Please explain further.
Sincerely,
[me]
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Let me say this again: my previous e-mail, and Grace’s response, appeared directly below that message, easily available for reference.
The response:
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Dear Jeff,
Hello! My name is Nove. I want to thank you personally for taking time to write to America Online Technical Support and making us aware of your concern. It is always a great pleasure to assist you regarding any issues you may have.
Based from your recent email, I understand that you have question about America Online.
I personally apologize for the inconvenience that you have been experiencing. I appreciate your patience with this matter and I am here to help you.
Because we answer hundreds of pieces of mail each day, it is difficult for us to remember your original question as well as our response to it. For this reason, I am unable to determine the exact nature of your request.
Kindly accept my personal apology if I cannot provide you a resolution right now.
It would be a big help if you could clarify your question or send me additional information about your question in order to provide you an accurate solution. I will be happy to help you in anyway I can. Please be sure to include the information I am asking for. Please bear in mind that I do want you to have accurate information.
Please send me any specific information you can think of that applies to the issue.
Once I have this information, I can better work with you to resolve this matter.
When responding to an email from us, please be sure to use the FORWARD button so we can receive your original request for help, along with our response.
I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank you for your patience and continued support. I hope the information that I provided helped.
If you have any inquiries, suggestions or comments regarding America Online, please feel free to write back and we will do the rest.
May I reiterate our commitment to continue providing you, competent and efficient online services.
Have a nice day, Jeff. :o)
Sincerely yours,
Nove C.
The Technical Department
America Online, Inc.
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I wrote back — with the previous correspondence automatically attached:
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subject: Re: Please remove my site from your search engine
Dear Nove,
Thank you for responding. If you had scrolled all the way down, you would have seen my original request without having to ask me to repeat it. Please scroll down and you will see my original request.
Sincerely,
[me]
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The response:
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Dear Jeff,
Hi, my name is John, and I would like to thank you for writing to America Online.
I understand that you want a certain kind of site to be removed on AOL serach engine.
I apologize because you were misinformed about the site that you have to visit. The correct site would be:
http://www.dmoz.com
From there, you maybe able to remove it. Just choose a category and there are some tabs above written as ADD URL, UPDATE URL, etc.
I want to thank you personally for taking the time to write.
Please feel free to write back anytime with questions or comments that you may have. It has been my pleasure to assist you.
Have a great day!
John P.
Customer Care Consultant
The Techmail Department
America Online, Inc.
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So I went back to the Open Directory Project and found a more specific place to send feedback. I briefly explained the problem and asked to be removed from the Open Directory Project, thinking that might help. The response:
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If you want your site moved, deleted or changed at the AOL search Dmoz is not the place to do it. Your site (http://tinman.blogspot.com/) is listed in Weblogs at Dmoz. There is nothing about porn or sex in the description the site is listed with. I don’t see your site listed in any Adult categories here.
Removing the site from Dmoz won’t change how its listed at AOL. They use Dmoz content as it shows up in the directory. But they also list sites on their own. Its likely they listed Tin Man on their own somehow and have flubbed it. I can’t do anything to change how a site is listed in AOL Search.
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I wrote back:
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Thanks for your reply — when I contacted AOL, they told me that I should contact the Open Directory Project. Any other tips? Thanks, I appreciate it.
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The response, from the same (I must say, rather competent and complimentary) person:
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Hi Jeff,
I don’t know what else you can do. I searched the Adult section of Dmoz for Tin Man and nothing at all comes up. I’ve only looked at the AOL Search once. Is there a place to submit a listing there? If so you could try submitting your site to the area its listed incorrectly and add a note for it to be moved/reviewed again at least.
You likely know the SearchEngineWatch site. I know there are messageboards there in which other Dmoz editors regularly post and handle problems. I’m not sure there is a board for the AOL Search. But maybe someone at the Dmoz board would have some experience with this and be able to help.
Wish I could think of something to fix this. AOL was wrong to pass the buck. :( I’m here if there is something I can do. But I really rebel about removing Tin Man from Weblogs. Its a good site. I liked the post you made about writing, the one Evan put on the main Blogger site a week or so ago.
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So I wrote back to support@aol.net. I sent my message twice, figuring it would go to two different people.
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subject: please remove my site from your porn listings!
For the last few days I have been trying without success to have my website, http://tinman.blogspot.com, removed from your search directory. From my site’s referral stats I have noticed that my site is constantly coming up as a result of pornographic searches. For instance, if someone types in “big hairy cocks,” my site comes up. This greatly troubles me, because my site is in no way a pornographic site.
I sent an e-mail to AOL support and was told to contact the Open Directory Project, http://www.dmoz.com. I contacted the Open Directory Project and received the following e-mail message from them:
“If you want your site moved, deleted or changed at the AOL search, Dmoz is not the place to do it. Your site (http://tinman.blogspot.com/) is listed in Weblogs at Dmoz. There is nothing about porn or sex in the description the site is listed with. I don’t see your site listed in any Adult categories here.”
“Removing the site from Dmoz won’t change how its listed at AOL. They use Dmoz content as it shows up in the directory. But they also list sites on their own. Its likely they listed Tin Man on their own somehow and have flubbed it. I can’t do anything to change how a site is listed in AOL Search.”
I don’t know what else to do at this point. I want my site removed from the AOL search engine as soon as possible.
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Response from Person #1:
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Dear Fois25,
Hi, my name is Ardee. I am writing to you on behalf of America Online in response to your recent e-mail or concern. As a Techmail Consultant, it is my pleasure to assist you regarding any concern you may have.
Based on the information you have provided, I understand you would like to remove your site from AOL search directory. Go to to the site below:
http://hometown.aol.com/_cqr/_register/edit.adp
I do hope that the information provided would be of great help with regards to your concern.
Thank you for taking the time to write. Please feel free to write back anytime with questions or comments that you may have. It has been my pleasure assisting you. =)
Very truly yours,
Ardee D.
Customer Care Consultant
The Techmail Department
America Online Inc.
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So of course I went to http://hometown.aol.com/_cqr/_register/edit.adp, signed in via the AOL screen name I use from home, and got a completely generic and unhelpful site called “Edit My Pages.”
Again, I’d sent my most recent e-mail twice. Here’s the response from Person #2:
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Dear Fois25,
Hi! I am Dan from America Online (AOL) . As a Customer Care Consultant from the TechMail Department, it is my pleasure to assist you regarding any concerns you may have.
I understand from your recent e-mail that you are having problem deleting your web site.
I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and I want to assure you that I am always here to help you resolve this issue as quickly as possible.
Eventhough I am more than willing to assist you with this concern, I feel that I am not the appropriate person to address this issue. Moreso, there could be some upgrades and new development with this issue.
However, I feel that it will be unfair on your part if I could not do anything about this. To be able to help you, I would like to refer you to the appropriate department.
Kindly check the following and send feedbacks or questions for your web site problems.
To send feedback to AOL Search: http://aolsearch.aol.com/feedback.adp
Use this link to send feedback specifically and only about our search engine, AOL Search — such as not finding a page, a broken link on the AOL Search pages, and similar search-related questions. AOL Member Services provides feedback support for AOL Search, answering replies and providing help for users.
Your general comments for AOL.COM should be submitted using the Feedback to AOL.COM link below.
To send feedback to AOL.COM: http://www.aol.com/info/feedback.html
[other stuff deleted]
I would like to thank you for writing America Online. Kindly write back for the results and if you have any inquiries or comments, I will be more than happy to assist you.
May I reiterate my commitment to continue providing you competent and efficient online services.
Dan C.
Customer Care Consultant
The TechMail Department
America Online Inc.
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Sigh. I sent yet another e-mail to support@aol.net:
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Subject: for the fifth time, please remove my site from your search engine.
To Whom It May Concern,
My problem is listed in the e-mail correspondence below. If you scroll down, you will see my original e-mail, and above that, you will see the response I received.
I went to the “AOL Search: Feedback” web page and typed in my problem. But when I hit the “submit” button, I received the following message: “The requested URL cannot be accessed due to a system error on this server.”
Please know that I am incredibly frustrated. I have sent numerous e-mails to AOL Support asking to have my site, http://tinman.blogspot.com, removed from your search engine. Nobody at your company who has responded to my e-mails seems to know what is going on. Please note that I am an attorney, and that if my site is not removed from your porn listings at once, I will have to consider taking appropriate action.
All I want is for someone to remove my website from your search engine. That is all I want. This sounds like a simple request, does it not? PLEASE REMOVE MY SITE FROM YOUR SEARCH ENGINE. DO NOT GIVE ME ANOTHER URL. DO NOT TELL ME TO SEND THIS PROBLEM SOMEWHERE ELSE. I expect the best possible service from America Online and I would like someone to take action on this matter. I am fed up.
Thank you,
[me]
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Yeah, I know. As an attorney, I have no idea what an “appropriate action” would be, but I didn’t care at that point.
I received the following response this morning:
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Dear Jeff,
Hello! My name is Lane from America Online (AOL). As a Customer Care Consultant from the TechMail Department, it is my pleasure to assist you with issues or concerns regarding America Online Services.
Thank you for writing to America Online and I want to assure you that I am here to help you solve this issue as quickly as possible.
I would like to direct you to AOL’s hub of online advertising information. This area is designed to provide advertisers with the resources they need to research and make decisions about advertising on AOL.
On the Internet, please go to the Media Space Web page at: http://mediaspace.aol.com.
PLEASE CALL THE NUMBER BELOW:
Please call:
1-888-235-0893
Thank you!
Lane D.
Customer Care Consultant
The TechMail Department
America Online, Inc.
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Cripes. So this morning I called the phone number. After waiting for about 25 minutes, someone came on the line and I tried to explain the problem. It took several tries, and I don’t think he ever fully understood the problem. He seemed to think it was going to be complicated, and he gave me another e-mail address, webmaster@aol.com, as well as another phone number. I also got the AOL Corporate mailing address.
So I wrote to webmaster@aol.com this morning. We’ll see if anything changes. I doubt it.
I also poked around online and found some HTML that blocks robots from sending your site information to search engines:
(meta name=”ROBOTS” content=”NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW”). I added that to my code. Of course, it’s too late to block AOL.
To Grace, Nove, Jon, Ardee, Dan, and Lane: you know what? You suck. I hate being patronized and treated like an idiot by people who are idiots themselves.
And getting irate doesn’t seem to do anything, because apparently these people have been trained to either ignore it or respond with even more Stepford kindness.
Holy moley. God, I hate AOL.