I know. This site is not about world news. While it is a shame what has happened in the gulf of Mexico, we do not intend to be covering that disaster here. It was just interesting to see how Fox News managed to spin a regular story and make a big deal out of it. Let’s face it. BP has made a huge mistake, and I am sure it will do everything possible to reduce costs to its shareholders. That’s what companies do. So how is it a surprise to see the company purchase ads targeting oil spill and other relevant terms?

That is not how Fox News reported the story. It talked about “news manipulation” and this practice being unethical. But it is not against the rules. All companies mess up. BP is now responsible for one of the biggest disasters in that region. Of course, it is going to buy ads to push its own agenda and moves. This is by no means a “manipulation” of search results. Ads have always been at the top of the search engines. Besides, last time I checked, BP was not a government-run business, so it can do what it wants with its funds.

The last thing Google needs to worry about is censoring legitimate ads. BP may be an awful, greedy company, but it is not promoting hate speech with its ads. Can we prove whether the company is actually trying the save the environment? Probably not. It’s more likely that it is trying to stop the spill, so it can go back to selling the recovered oil.

Fox News is being a bit dishonest with its headline, but that’s what Fox always does to get more hits. BP should probably spend more money paying businesses that have been affected with this disaster. But it’s not Google’s job to make sure that happens.