[osg-users] Google and "Authoritative Distributor" of Open Source Software (OSG)?

[Chris Hanson]

  Has anyone else here who offers download of compiled Open Source software been hassled by Google? My Google Ads for AlphaPixel's OSG consulting services (a major part of my business) have been suspended for the following:

after a discussion with our policy team, it looks like your site was correctly disabled for our Free Desktop Software policy, which you can find here. What they are specifically talking about is this page on your site alphapixel.com. What they are telling me is that for the software found on that page you must register as the authoritative distributor of that software through this form here. After submitting the form, the policy team will review your site within 1-2 weeks and if they confirm that you are the main distributors of this software and they will approve the site without any further escalation from me. I know this isnt the most ideal answer you were looking for, but I have pushed back immensely and have done all I can but they are standing firmly. At this time, I think the only option would be to go through the from process. Please let me know if you have any questions on this matter. 

  So, it doesn't seem to me to be sensible to require we register as "THE authoritative" software distribution site. This would presumably exclude others such as Torben ( http://www.osgvisual.org/projects/osgvisual/wiki/Downloads ) which is not ok.

  It seems to me like Google somehow, doesn't even GET the idea of Open Source, at least as it applies to binary downloads. Has anyone encountered this issue?

--

Chris 'Xenon' Hanson, omo sanza lettere. Xe...@AlphaPixel.com http://www.alphapixel.com/

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[Frank Kane]

Wow, sounds like they are lumping you in with all the bad apples who try and trick people into paying for free software.

They've never gotten on my case for my own OSG-related ads, but that might be because I don't offer OSG for download, just SDK's that depend on OSG. The same would hopefully also be true for osgVisual, should they want to run AdWords campaigns.

Completing that form would require certifying that Osfield blessed Alpha Pixel as the sole authorized distributor of OSG.

My opinion is that the only way out of this would be to host your OSG binary downloads from openscenegraph.org somehow accompanied by a link back to Alpha Pixel, or perhaps from some other domain that you're not linking ads to. But now that they've flagged you, that might not be enough.

That really sucks. FWIW I find the quality of AdWords traffic to be pretty suspect anyhow. Maybe you could could use this as an opportunity to see if losing AdWords traffic actually impacts your business.

--
Frank Kane
Founder, Sundog Software
http://www.sundog-soft.com
The SilverLining Sky, 3D Cloud, and Weather SDK
The Triton Ocean SDK

------------------
Read this topic online here:
http://forum.openscenegraph.org/viewtopic.php?p=63717#63717





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[Chris Hanson]

They've never gotten on my case for my own OSG-related ads, but that might be because I don't offer OSG for download, just SDK's that depend on OSG.

Well, and those, you CAN claim to be the authoritative sole distributor for, because those SDKs are yours. I bet you'll get contacted soon about this same thing, though the issue will be easier for you to solve for the very reasons you cited.

Completing that form would require certifying that Osfield blessed Alpha Pixel as the sole authorized distributor of OSG.

  Yeah. And I think that's absolutely silly to ask of him. 

 

My opinion is that the only way out of this would be to host your OSG binary downloads from openscenegraph.org somehow accompanied by a link back to Alpha Pixel, or perhaps from some other domain that you're not linking ads to. But now that they've flagged you, that might not be enough.

  Yeah. You're thinking exactly like I am. Part of the reason I offer the downloads is that I have a fast pipe on a CONUS backbone and I can afford the bandwidth for people who want to download the big files. Putting it onto OpenSceneGraph.org sort of negates most of the benefits.

 

That really sucks. FWIW I find the quality of AdWords traffic to be pretty suspect anyhow. Maybe you could could use this as an opportunity to see if losing AdWords traffic actually impacts your business.

  Maybe so. I suspect I get a lot more legitimate traffic from my OSG downloads page and people who refer me (ahem, like that guy from SunDog Software -- I owe you some alcoholic beverages sometime...) than from my Ads anyway. I was just gearing up to have an SEO firm analyze my Ads and see if they were at all worth what I was paying for them.

  BTW, your SunDog ads are some of the prettiest I see when browsing the Internet. And I don't even need to click them to find you... ;)

[Robert Osfield]

Hi Chris,

My first reaction is WTF, second, third, I mean WTF?!?

What I don't understand is that will only list you if you are
officially the main distributor. I guess I could understand they'd
want some kinda of official clarification for the relationship to the
main OSG project and that the binaries are "sanctioned", but having
the potential for multiple sanctioned sources can be a bonus.

I'm happy to be referenced in discussions.

Robert.

> Training * Consulting * Contracting
> 3D * Scene Graphs (Open Scene Graph/OSG) * OpenGL 2 * OpenGL 3 * OpenGL 4 *
> GLSL * OpenGL ES 1 * OpenGL ES 2 * OpenCL
> Legal/IP * Code Forensics * Digital Imaging * GIS * GPS * osgEarth * Terrain
> * Telemetry * Cryptography * LIDAR * Embedded * Mobile * iPhone/iPad/iOS *

> Android
> @alphapixel facebook.com/alphapixel (775) 623-PIXL [7495]
>

[Jan Ciger]

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On 05/11/2015 11:28 PM, Chris Hanson wrote:
>
> It seems to me like Google somehow, doesn't even GET the idea of
> Open Source, at least as it applies to binary downloads. Has
> anyone encountered this issue?
>

I think Google has no issues with OSS, but the people behind Google
Ads may not. There have been similar boneheaded moves on Youtube from
their side, forcing people into exclusive content agreements and what
not. Basically they are abusing their market power and someone should
reminds them of their "do no evil" motto.

If you don't manage to resolve this and lose the Google Ads revenue as
a result, do publicize it. Requiring that you must somehow be the
"sole authorized distributor" for an application (OSS or not - what if
I am reselling some software?!) to be able to use Google Ads is
completely retarded, IMO.

Jan
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[Chris Hanson]

I should clarify, since it seems to be a misunderstanding by some. I'm not actually making any Ads revenue. I don't run ads ON my site. I pay Google to run ads that advertise my services (custom OpenGL/OSG consulting -- I do NOT even advertise the downloads in question) on Google search pages and presumably other sites of interest, in order to bring people TO my site.

Which makes it even more bone-headed.

If you look at the form, there is an "Other" checkbox where I don't claim to be the sole authorized distributor, but it looks like I only get one chance at appeal, and given their obtuseness in understanding F/OSS software distribution, I'm not confident of my ability to explain the finer points of non-sole-source distribution and F/OSS. Since this is apparently a new AdWords policy, I am hoping to get the attention of someone with a larger clue at Google who will actually revise the policy to incorporate F/OSS concepts.

I know what they're trying to do. They're trying to stamp out sites like those that prominently advertise "FREE VLC MEDIA PLAYER!" and then send you to their download which is chock full of malware and toolbars and adware. But they seem to have overlooked something along the way.

I'm wondering if we need to propose/demonstrate to them that I (and Torben, if he's nearby and listening) are, while not SOLE EXCLUSIVE, at least ARE legitimately authorized distribution sources. It still smacks of being against the principles of F/OSS, but I guess nobody ever said AdWords and F/OSS had to get along. I may just have to foist the downloads off onto a different site, but then my bread and butter business loses all the promotional benefit that allows my to pay the hosting and bandwidth costs for the big downloads.

It's a pickle.

​

[Frank Kane]

If it's any consolation, Google shut down my ad campaigns as well last week, or at least some of them. This was just for providing free evaluation SDK's of my own products, on my own website!

In addition to filling out the same form you did, I was also told to post licensing terms and uninstall instructions on every page of my website. I'm still waiting for the appeal to go through. You might want to do the same, proactively. Their new terms also require installers to be digitally signed, so I'm expecting that to come next.

---
Frank Kane
Founder, Sundog Software LLC
http://www.sundog-soft.com/

The SilverLining Sky, 3D Cloud, and Weather SDK
The Triton Ocean SDK

------------------
Read this topic online here:

http://forum.openscenegraph.org/viewtopic.php?p=63747#63747

[Chris Hanson]

Wut? Seriously? Sheesh.

I'm moving my downloads to a different domain, alphapixel.org. Not that that will probably help much.

Sigh.

--

Chris 'Xenon' Hanson, omo sanza lettere. Xe...@AlphaPixel.com http://www.alphapixel.com/

Training • Consulting • Contracting

3D • Scene Graphs (Open Scene Graph/OSG) • OpenGL 2 • OpenGL 3 • OpenGL 4 • GLSL • OpenGL ES 1 • OpenGL ES 2 • OpenCL

Legal/IP • Code Forensics • Digital Imaging • GIS • GPS • osgEarth • Terrain • Telemetry • Cryptography • LIDAR • Embedded • Mobile • iPhone/iPad/iOS • Android

[Michael Weiblen]

wonder if they'll ping me about my ancient osg binaries at mew.cx?
-- mew

[Chris Hanson]

Probably not, because I don't think you run any Google Ads that bring people to mew.cx. This is an AdWords policy, not an over-arching Google policy. They wouldn't be harassing Frank and I if we weren't running Google Ads to bring people to our sites.