Microsoft Bing Denies QuestionObama

QuestionObama was granted free some advertising credits with the Microsoft AdCenter through a promotional offer.  The Microsoft AdCenter displays adds on the Bing search engine and Bing affiliates. 

Never turning down a freebie, I decided to put up an advertisement.  Below is a picture of the ad.

Much to my surprise.  The ad (along with some keywords) were rejected. 

Obviously, I was not pleased with this.  If you notice, QuestionObama is not a site that collects any forms of revenue.  We are not out to make a "commercial gain".  My anger was further inflamed when I "binged" some keywords such as "anti-palin", "anti-mccain", etc.  There were ads on Bing for these keywords.  I decided to email Microsoft.  Surprisingly they responded.

Response from Microsoft

Thank you for contacting Microsoft adCenter Support, my name is Elizabeth.

I am responding to the email request where you had received an editorial disapproval for content on the landing page. I can understand the importance of understanding why the ad has been disapproved and I am happy to assist you with this.

I realize that there are some keywords of similar nature currently being used by some advertisers, they could be bidding on the political name for their merchandise and thus displaying when placing an ‘anti’ in front of the name. The few ads I was able to locate were companies selling merchandise not a place to view personal opinion on any leader.

Please review our Editorial Content Guidelines to help explain why the ad was disapproved. Essentially some of the comments that have been posted are not allowed within our guidelines.

Defamatory, libelous, slanderous content- Advertising that contains defamatory, libelous, or slanderous content is not allowed.

Hate speech- Advertising that facilitates or promotes hate speech, whether directed at an individual or a group, is not allowed.

Political content - Advertising that exploits sensitive political issues for commercial gain is not allowed. However, political advocacy is generally allowed.

I do not think that any comments or content on this site can be classified as hate speech....that is a far, far stretch.  Yes, this is a political site, but it is a site that is focused around political advocacy.

Obviously Microsoft is under no requirement to run my ad.  It is their business.  However, clearly running ads that are on the opposite side of the political spectrum that have similar content as QuestionObama.com, shows me their true colors. 

It is a sad day, when Google, a company that is clearly a supporter of BO, allows a greater level of freedom of speech. 

Would love to hear your thoughts and comments.....chime in!