Google's anti-Chinese herb policy demands removal of advertising Bi Yan Pian from East Earth Trade Winds website

I've previously written about Google's War on Chinese herbs. As a recap, East Earth Trade Winds advertises on Google Adwords -those little ads that pop up when you search for something. In April of 2013 they had their account shut down for three weeks for advertising Epimedium - a Chinese herb that is legal to import and legal to use. In Chinese medicine Epimedium is considered a Kidney Yang Tonifying herb. East Earth had to remove that product listing from the site in order to be able to advertise on Google Adwords again.
Now the Google anti-Chinese censors are at it again. This time the East Earth Trade Winds account violated Google policy by advertising Bi Yan Pian - a common remedy for allergies and stuffy nose. Once again this product is legally imported and there are no restrictions on the sale of this product by the FDA. It is simply that Google's censors don't approve of Chinese herb products.

Here's the violation that they pointed out to me:


"Please be advised that your ads are getting disapproved for promoting Bi Yan Pian on the Landing Page which is an Unapproved Pharmaceuticals monitored by Google. Please remove it from the Landing Page so that we could approve the ads. Please find attached a screenshot of the highlighted term on the Landing Page of your website which needs to be removed.  "

Googles anti-Chinese herb policy restricts legal Chinese herb products.

Instead of removing the product East Earth Trade Winds removed the product name Bi Yan Pian and changed the name listing to the English translation "Nose Inflammation Pills". As of this date we don't know if this will pass their censorship. Bi Yan Pian, by the way, is not a "pharmaceutical" - it is an herbal supplement.
Google  arbitrarily restricts the sale of Bi Yan Pian. There are others who advertise the same product and do not seem to have any restrictions.
I suggest that people use yahoo or bing for their search engines instead of Google. Yahoo and Bing do not seem to have an anti-Chinese herb policy.

Google Shopping bans Yin Yang Sister's Flu Away

If you've been on Google and want to buy something one easy way to do it is to search for the item you want then select the "Shopping" tab. Merchants submit a "feed" of their products to Google for this service. It doesn't cost the Merchant anything to do this but it is a good way for the Merchant to advertise their products and good for the Consumer to compare prices and services.

Recently we found that Google Shopping is also into banning products. In this case, East Earth Trade Winds found out the Yin Yang Sisters brand "Flu Away"* is not allowed to be in their data feed for products to be listed on Google Shopping. In fact, none of their products can be listed until this product is removed. Surprised? Maybe you shouldn't be. Google Policy-Censors have banned "Epimedium" and "Pe Min Kan Wan" (see previous posts).

Here's a email from the Google shopping team dated 4/15/13 (bold and underlining mine):

"Hello,
Your account was suspended for advertising and selling Flu Away by making problematic claims such as "This easy-to-use formula contains powerful Chinese herbs for fever, upset stomach and sore throat. This product would likely be considered an unapproved drug by applicable regulatory authorities.

Below is the list of items in your account that are currently violating our policies. Please ensure you're not submitting these items.

Once you've submitted your feeds after removing these, we would be happy to review your account again.

The Items are: Flu Away

Sincerely,

The Google Shopping Team"

 After removing what I thought were the "claims" and changing the questionable line to read "This easy-to-use formula contains powerful Chinese herbs in a convenient instant beverage that you can easily take with you." We found this wasn't good enough. The Google Shopping Team told us the product had to be removed (bold and underlining mine):

"Hello,
Please check your data feed again. Your item 'Flu Away' is still listed in the data feed. We would not be able to review your account unless this item and the similar ones gets removed.

Sincerely,

The Google Shopping Team"

As I pointed out in previous posts Google itself doesn't like to be censored by countries like China but they don't seem to mind censoring what the American public can view or sell. I suggest that people Boycott  the Google search engine. If you are involved in Oriental herbs, the health food field, or just a consumer please pass this information around so that people know that Google Policy-Censors are opposed to Chinese herb products.

_____
*(Flu Away was developed by Author and Acupuncturist Letha Hadady. It contains: honeysuckle, schizonepeta, ligusticum, burdock, forsythia, peppermint, vitex, and licorice.)

Google's War On Chinese Herbs: Epimedium Banned

Google's Policy-Makers seem to have declared war on Chinese Herbs and the supplement/health food industry. East Earth Trade Winds had its Google Adword account suspended in early April, 2013 for advertising violations. What violations? One was having the word "Pe Min Kan Wan" listed on the website (See earlier posting). The other violation? Having the word "Epimedium" on the website, I'm told, is also a violation of their policies. "Epimedium" is short for the botanical name Herba Epimedium Sagittatum (Chinese: Yin Yang Huo 淫羊藿) and is a commonly used herb in Chinese herbal medicine. Epimedium tonifies the Kidneys, fortifies the yin and yang, and is good for pain in the joints and because it is a Yang Tonifying herb it also can be used in formulas for reproductive problems.

This seems preposterous to me. How can you ban the name of a plant that is not only commonly sold in Chinese medicine but legal to import and use?

I pointed out to the Support Rep that the word "Epimedium" was not on the Google Hit List of banned terms.

The response was (bold and underlining mine):

"Unfortunately those list (sic) are not comprehensive. You will have to take my word that you are not allowed to advertise for herbs such as Epimedium, and because the policy for healthcare terms changes so often there is not another list that I am able to send. However, please check the list and make the necessary changes and let me know when that has been completed, so I may continue to chat with our policy team.

Best,
T. R. "

Sounds like "Catch-22" T.R.

Another word I believe I could substitute for "Banning" is "Censoring" as in the Google Censors have determined that the Chinese products "Epimedium" and "Pe Min Kan Wan" are not fit for Chinese Herb Stores or Health Food Stores to advertise or sell. They will suspend your advertising account if you are found to advertise these products unless of course you're a major Google Adword Player like Amazon (search for "epimedium" in Google and an ad for Epimedium Extracts at Amazon.com will come up).

Censoring is an interesting term. If you remember it wasn't that long ago that Google pulled out of China because they didn't want their search results censored... but in the USA they seem to have no qualms about censoring and controlling what US businessmen and women may advertise and sell.

Google's done a lot of really cool stuff with the internet but as in my last posting I would like to encourage you to Boycott Google and use Yahoo, Bing, or any other search engine instead.

Stay tuned. I'm sure there's more to surprises to come.