Everybody seems to agree that puppy mills are a bad idea, yet it seems to be really difficult to stop puppy mills.
Now, perhaps there is a new way – through Google.
Google recently released a Chrome plugin that allows us to block chosen sites from our search results. This is what is stated in the Google blog –
If installed, the extension also sends blocked site information to Google, and we will study the resulting feedback and explore using it as a potential ranking signal for our search results.
~~ Google Blog
This is great news because it means that we can all give quick input to Google as to which sites offer good information about buying puppies, and what sites are puppy mill sites. When this information finally makes its way into Google Search, our input will help to reduce the visibility of online puppy mill sites.
After installing the plugin, I did a few searches for “buy puppy”, “buy shiba puppy” and a few other variations. Then, I blocked all the puppy mill sites that came up in the first 3 pages of my search results.
This Google plugin is very easy to install. I just went to the plugin install page using my Google Chrome browser, hit the install button, and it was done!
If you have not used Google Chrome before, you can get it here. I have used Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome, and at the moment, I like Google Chrome best.
Why?
- Google Chrome is noticeably faster than the other browsers.
- In my recent experience, Google Chrome is a lot more reliable than Firefox. Recent versions of Firefox crash a lot on my environment.
- There are some great plugins for Google Chrome like this “blocked sites” plugin that lets us give input directly to Google Search.
If many of us block out puppy mill sites, they will likely get pushed down in Google’s search results. At the same time, sites that have good information about the truth of puppy mills will get greater visibility.
Another piece of good news is we only need to mark rubbish sites once, and they will immediately be filtered out from our own search results. This will clean up our search screen and make it easier to find relevant information on the web.
In the interest of full disclosure, puppy mill sites sometimes advertise on Google Ads. I filter out all of the puppy mill sites that I see from my Google Ads account, but I may not catch them all because the ads I see are personalized to me. If you see any puppy mill ads on this site, please send me their link and I will filter them out.
One way to stop puppy mills is by speaking out and sharing information with others. Google can really help us with that.
There is a guy in Waxhaw, NC who breeds, trains, and donates dogs to families with special needs children. There is a documentary currently being produced to tell his story.
This guy does this currently through his own funding…touching story. Watch the movie trailer here
Thank you for this great post, I wasn’t even aware of this neat feature. I’m working on writing a post for Helping Homeless Pets Blog and have included a mention of it and a thank you to you. Together we can make a difference!
– Shanley
A big Kudos to you for helping animals in need!