The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Google pulls sick site, following Chester protests

People Power

Free whitepaper – Enabling The Agile Data Center

Google has removed a perverted Web site from its search listings following a public outcry from people in Chester.

There was outrage when it was discovered that anyone innocently tapping in "Chester Guide" into the Google search engine was met with a site dedicated to picking up small girls.

The site - run by someone calling
himself "Chester the Molester" - was the second search result in Google's list and stood out among dozens of others sites dealing with tourist information.

The Chester Chronicle led a campaign to get the site de-listed winning the support of readers and local councilors, who bombarded the US-based search engine with emails calling for the site to be removed.

A week or so ago, though, it looked like people power would not be enough to get the site dropped.

The top search engine replied to protesters saying that there was "nothing that Google can do to remove the offending content without the cooperation of the site administrator".

It also pointed out that that it was a "provider of information, not a mediator".

Now though, it seems the determined residents of Chester have won their battle with Google agreeing to pull the site after accepting that the content on the site was illegal.

The leader of Chester City Council, John Price, told The Chronicle: "It's great news the site has been removed. Good riddance to bad rubbish. However, we must now be vigilant and make sure it does not come back."®

Free whitepaper – Unified Server Configurator

Don’t Miss

DustbinDirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide

Ventblockers Horror beyond human imagination

SC09Top 500 supers - rise of the Linux quad-cores

SC09 Jaguar munches Roadrunner

Ubuntu teaser Early adopters bloodied by Ubuntu's Karmic Koala

Smooth Windows upgrade it ain't

Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter

Narrowcasting for the email classes