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anthony
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Who's Insensitive When It Comes to Survivors Sharing Their Experience?
Google AdSense pulled its advertising from MyPTSD, a forum for those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), citing that the content featured was "sensitive, tragic, or hurtful." Yet nowhere in the AdSense policy is this outlined or forbidden.
Established in 2005, MyPTSD is a free online support network that currently hosts over 22,000 registered members. The site served over two million visitors in the last year, with users ranging from the supporters of PTSD sufferers to veterans, survivors of childhood abuse, and rape victims.
"I read the AdSense policies thoroughly before implementing the service," says Anthony Parsons, the founder and administrator of MyPTSD. "We comply to that policy."
The content AdSense referred to was user-posted material. MyPTSD is overwhelmingly comprised of stories of enduring and surviving traumatic experiences and sharing methods of coping. The majority of materials posted by users are free and public, including the stories of survival AdSense calls a violation of its user policy.
Specifically, the example AdSense gave in its notice was a post about working through anger related to childhood abuse. But there was no violation, asserts Parsons: "I did everything to ensure compliancy with their policies, read and understood them, ensured I complied with their ad placement and quantity of ads. Nowhere was there such a reason as what has been given not to run their ads."
Members responded to an announcement about being denied ad revenue with dismay, but ironically, several members used the opportunity to speak against lascivious ads posted by Google. One member cited ads for "mail-order girlfriends" and another member said that they are "embarrassed and sick of the provocative ads."
The explanation AdSense gives about the violation states "Google does not allow the monetization of content that may be sensitive, tragic, or hurtful."
Parsons and other members find the idea of MyPTSD monetizing anything laughable. Before earning revenue through AdSense, server costs were covered through premium membership incentives, member donations, and Parsons himself. Between 11 volunteer staff members, site moderators clock around 1,000 hours per month "to ensure this community remains stable and safe for our membership."
Without revenue from advertisers, MyPTSD is back to using donations as a primary source of funding. "I never wanted to have ads on this site, but I had to do something to relieve some of the financial stress from myself as well as the members' burden," Parsons explains, "If they stated sites with sensitive or tragic information were not allowed, then I would not have bothered in the first place and taken other steps to fund the site's costs."
In addition to sharing resources, people whose lives are touched by this diagnosis are able to create a support network among themselves. Parsons elaborates: "When I was at the worst in my own PTSD, creating this site and finding others globally who understood what I was going through was integral to my healing." He hoped others would find similar comfort, and says "It kept me alive."
AdSense had been running on the forum for three months prior to the notice. "They literally cancelled it a day before I was going to announce member donations were no longer required," says Parsons, who notes he still contributed out-of-pocket monthly to cover costs. "I've now wasted months of time and I'm back to the beginning--stressed and looking at how to fund the site for those suffering trauma to get support and help"
Google AdSense pulled its advertising from MyPTSD, a forum for those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), citing that the content featured was "sensitive, tragic, or hurtful." Yet nowhere in the AdSense policy is this outlined or forbidden.
Established in 2005, MyPTSD is a free online support network that currently hosts over 22,000 registered members. The site served over two million visitors in the last year, with users ranging from the supporters of PTSD sufferers to veterans, survivors of childhood abuse, and rape victims.
"I read the AdSense policies thoroughly before implementing the service," says Anthony Parsons, the founder and administrator of MyPTSD. "We comply to that policy."
The content AdSense referred to was user-posted material. MyPTSD is overwhelmingly comprised of stories of enduring and surviving traumatic experiences and sharing methods of coping. The majority of materials posted by users are free and public, including the stories of survival AdSense calls a violation of its user policy.
Specifically, the example AdSense gave in its notice was a post about working through anger related to childhood abuse. But there was no violation, asserts Parsons: "I did everything to ensure compliancy with their policies, read and understood them, ensured I complied with their ad placement and quantity of ads. Nowhere was there such a reason as what has been given not to run their ads."
Members responded to an announcement about being denied ad revenue with dismay, but ironically, several members used the opportunity to speak against lascivious ads posted by Google. One member cited ads for "mail-order girlfriends" and another member said that they are "embarrassed and sick of the provocative ads."
The explanation AdSense gives about the violation states "Google does not allow the monetization of content that may be sensitive, tragic, or hurtful."
Parsons and other members find the idea of MyPTSD monetizing anything laughable. Before earning revenue through AdSense, server costs were covered through premium membership incentives, member donations, and Parsons himself. Between 11 volunteer staff members, site moderators clock around 1,000 hours per month "to ensure this community remains stable and safe for our membership."
Without revenue from advertisers, MyPTSD is back to using donations as a primary source of funding. "I never wanted to have ads on this site, but I had to do something to relieve some of the financial stress from myself as well as the members' burden," Parsons explains, "If they stated sites with sensitive or tragic information were not allowed, then I would not have bothered in the first place and taken other steps to fund the site's costs."
In addition to sharing resources, people whose lives are touched by this diagnosis are able to create a support network among themselves. Parsons elaborates: "When I was at the worst in my own PTSD, creating this site and finding others globally who understood what I was going through was integral to my healing." He hoped others would find similar comfort, and says "It kept me alive."
AdSense had been running on the forum for three months prior to the notice. "They literally cancelled it a day before I was going to announce member donations were no longer required," says Parsons, who notes he still contributed out-of-pocket monthly to cover costs. "I've now wasted months of time and I'm back to the beginning--stressed and looking at how to fund the site for those suffering trauma to get support and help"
