It was discomforting to read Owen William’s account of his failed attempt to add his site to Google News. Not just because how aloof Google acted, but because of the patience Owen was showing towards their policies. I understand his desire to receive the crazy traffic Google might send to his site. But it is better to understand that Google’s interests and plans for the product just won’t match those of a smallish individual website.
These losing battles are always better to be avoided — it has been true since the early SEO days. Dave Winer words it really well in his response.
In Williams’ tale of woe, the Godfather is the open web, other news orgs, his readers, and the legal system is Google. We have to work together Owen. The web made all you do possible, you can’t go over its head to Google to get what you think you need.