Comments on: White House expands use of search-blocking code

Whitehouse.gov's administrators silently triple the number of Web pages that it forbids Google and other search engines from accessing. Is this a bad omen or much ado about nothing?

[umbrae]

"While it would be accurate to state that the White House has in one day tripled the number of sites it excludes from Google crawling, it is also important to note that this is not a big deal--in fact, it doesn't matter at all."

You said it. Its not even important enough for an article of this length. Adding something to the robot.txt file in no way makes information unavailable. Many search engine even ignore it. This is only to instruct search engine to not include information that may not display properly or be duplicated. This looks like they are telling engines to ignore their search results, which is a proper use of robot.txt and not anything to do with censorship or openness. A robot.txt file does not hide information; nor is it very effective in blocking search engines.

[techman21]

Pointless article, a shameless attempt to sucker us into reading it through a sensational headline.

[man_w_balls]

"he has already violated his pledge to post all nonemergency bills on the Whitehouse.gov Web site for five days before signing them"

And don't forget his outright reversal on the telecom immunity, on the record with CNet.

Big surprise, Obama's a liar. He is a career politician, and his mouth moves a lot.
I actually considered voting for him briefly, until he picked the Neo-Cheney VP Biden.
McCain was the worse choice, obviously, but it looks to be shaping up for a continual stream of disappointment from the first mixed-race president. Our political system is growing more obviously worthless, when real choices are so few. The only solution is for a majority of voters to wake up and move past the 2-party system - it fails miserably in the 21st Century. I will never vote either Republican or Democrat.

[irondog1970]

Wow.

Here's my take on things: this is a new administration running the show. Things like how long legislation is posted on the Web site vs. when it's signed into law & what robot.txt files are listed or aren't listed: all this kind of stuff takes a while to settle before it starts running smoothly.

After all, how efficient is *your* office? I can say at my company, I get information from various different sources with conflicting instructions & expectations of when things will be done by.

Yes, yes, I guess the White House should be perfect from Day 1. Meanwhile, back to reality?

[Archus]

"Here's my take on things: this is a new administration running the show. Things like how long legislation is posted on the Web site vs. when it's signed into law & what robot.txt files are listed or aren't listed: all this kind of stuff takes a while to settle before it starts running smoothly."

I agree. It seems like people expect that the Presidency is a dictatorship, in that he can just walk in to office and expect things to happen within the hour. Doesn't even work that way in my office and there's barely any red tape and much less security to worry about.

Give the guy a break for a second. I mean it's not like he's declared war (or a police action) on anyone.

[Electro_Fox]

"It is not the place to judge the president on tech policy issues."

Horses**t! All the left did for 8 years was cry and whine about Bush this, Bush that... Looks like [Obama] is going to have to get used to it. Did you think we'd make it easy on him? Hell No! Just remember that 46% of us did not vote for him, hardly what you call a landslide or mandate...



[CNET editors' note: Prohibited content edited out.]

[camman2003]

Wow... some people have no problem showing their true bigoted selves on the comments here.

[Suspect987]

Camman,

What about his comment is bigoted? He is correct in that Obama did not win by a land slide and the people who did not vote for him are going to hold his feet to the fire for each promise he made. This is no different than what happened with Bush. Just becuase someone didn't vote for Obama doesn't make them a bigot. Just becuase you don't agree with Obama doesn't make you a bigot.

Chris,

Interesting article, but as you pointed out about the two blogs you cited this two is a non-artilce. It's good to keep tabs on promises, but this early on I won't hold it against him. If this becomes a problem over the next few months then it's an artilce.

[camman2003]

Man, I have to agree with people around here who frequently comment "this is news"?

From the title "WHITE HOUSE EXPANDS USE OF SEARCH-BLOCKING CODE" I thought this was something serious.

But instead I find yet another article analyzing the use of a robots.txt file on the president's website, as if that is some sort of indicator of national policy.

Slow news day I guess.

[gggg sssss]

robots.txt are meaningless - like Please dont walk on the grass. Any spider that wants to ignore them can do so. Theo nly way to keep Google out is to ban its IP from the site, or to do heuristic evaluation of its activity. Divining robots.txt is mindless pap for the clueless

[relationary]

This article is neo-con crap.

Bush's administration left the White House information system in shambles.

Obama has not failed to keep his promises. He has been shoveling Republican crap out of the barn before he can bring in the new horses.

[pmocek]

re: broken commitment

The White House Blog <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog_post/update_on_sunlight_before_signing/">posted</a> today:

<i>"As we've noted on the blog, the President has signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Children?s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act. We've also published the DTV Delay Act of 2009.

"Since a few questions have come in, we want to update you on the President's campaign commitment to introducing more sunlight into the lawmaking process by posting non-emergency legislation online for five days before signing it. This policy will be implemented in full soon; currently we are working through implementation procedures and some initial issues with the congressional calendar.

The President remains committed to bringing more transparency to government, and in this spirit the White House will continue to publish legislation expected to come to his desk online for public comment as it moves through Congress."</i>