I got my request in! I made sure to mention how you were the #1 Web source when it came to porn related content! :D

I'm kidding. I had nothing but good things to say.

I wrote a nice little summary for you guys. It's the least I can do for the info you provide me and the time you help waste during slow work days.

I love your weekday coverage, but the weekend stuff is just not up to snuff. There are inconsistencies and when they're discovered, I don't see them corrected except in the comments.

Does Google News include blogs now? I don't know how I feel conceptually about a story from a blog being placed alongside something from the New York Times, et al.

But maybe I haven't drunk enough blogger koolaid. Not that you guys aren't great, I'm just not sure that Google News is the appropriate aggregation place for blogs in general. (Though, I don't honestly read news via Google News anyway.)

"very informative and well-edited"

I should say, not to imply the New York Times is a higher quality source of news, but it's just a completely differently format.

But... you guys aren't news ... you're a blog that posts whiny emails from unsatisfied customers. I love you and think your mission is of the highest caliber, but it's not really news... if my newspaper (yes I still read the NY times and the SF chronicle in the flesh each day) had "articles" like your posts I would probably write subscription-threatening letters to the editor. Again, I'm not knocking you guys, but if every blog that related to businesses and commerce were in Google News then Google News would stop being useful because the actual news would be buried in an avalanche of bloggoreah. please don't revoke my commenting priviledge, k?

Well, I submitted, just to help the cause. Good luck!

just added this to digg - http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Help_the_Consumerist_get_adde...

digg that biotch!

Gotta agree with Jasmo.

You guys are awesome and are near the top of my Blog roll, but I'm not sure I'd want you include in the "news" category...

Keep up the great work doing what you're doing, but this I cannot do for you.

Consumerist does not belong in Google News. It is not a news site; it is a blog. Blogs do not belong in Google News. That's why it's called Google News and not Google Blogs That Link to News Sites.

My submission makes sure to highlight the helpful role The Consumerist played in keeping tack of the brands in the pet food recall, and the good information regarding the subprime lending meltdown. These points highlight The Consumerists contributions as a News Source, as opposed to just a blog/editorial source.

I think it's a little early to be counting The Consumerist as a reliable news source...Yet.

Work on fact-checking and stop with the tiresome multiple followups like Walmart's nazi t-shirts.

@kweee: Unfortunately I agree with kweee. Making news, as Consumerist has admirably done on many occasions, makes you a news maker, not a news source.

Audition to become included in Google News. To be included on this site, you first need to be approved by our team. We're looking for sites that are interesting, substantial and Google News-worthy. So write a comment, polish up your words and beg your readers to harass us. Your site will only appear once (or if) you're approved.

Well, I for one recommended you. I also contacted the person I deal with for my Google Ad Word Account (I am a Buyer) as well as a couple of other people at Google I know.

How about a deal? We'll help you get into Google News and you drop the sensationalistic headlines? ;)

@kweee:

I agree...but if it's any consolation, Consumerist is already available to add to your personalized Google homepage (iGoogle, or whatever that's called). That's where it belongs, IMO.

There are already a bunch of blogs on Google News.

Well, here's what I sent:

"
Typical headline about a company or product: "[Corporation] insists it cares about [issue X]" (when, in fact, it does not, and is only stating this because it's now been caught red-handed violating issue X.) Zero analysis of the obvious bias.

Consumerist upends this bias by filing articles relevant to individual consumers. Typical Consumerist headline: [Corporation] screwing you over; here's how to avoid it.

Who do you want to read your news: spokes-marketeer A-holes, or humans? Yeah, I thought so.

"

P.S. Kisses, spokes-marketeers!

I have to agree with others, this a blog not a news site.

Hmm I'm torn on this. This seems more formal than a blog, more like a news source. But, of course, not following the same standards as a news source. Content is reader-generated versus journalist generated. I think that gives Consumerist its appealing nature, listening to the "little man". I see the value of Consumerist in providing information and warning to people. Before reading Consumerist, I had no idea companies could play so dirty (I'm 23- you think I'd know better by now!), and I'm starting to learn of less trustworthy corporations. So in that case, this place is invaluable. Biased? Inaccurate? Frankly, I don't have the time to do independent research, and I doubt I could, anyway. It'd probably involve scanning a guy's statement accounts and service agreement or something. The integrity of Consumerist is in question, but not place to prove or disprove it. I've noticed they're retracted or updated things. That seems pretty honest.

Consumerist isn't a news source- more of a guide. The stories are interesting, but mostly too minor to be considered news. The RIAA having charges brought against them is news. A guy with a broken refrigerator isn't. (Not saying it's not important to him and a good warning about GM.)

Sorry for going on and on. Anyhow, I won't send a request to Google News for you, but wanted to say you are doing an important service. I'll promote you to friends, I'm just not sure Google News is the best venue for you.

I'd say that there is a strong argument that Consumerist is a primary news source, rather than an editorial source, and noted that in my message to Google News.

Investigative Journalism, - check
Factual Accounts - check
Fact Checking - check, with a caveat that I hope Nick understands that a "News" categorization would necessarily require a higher level of fact checking than is typically associated with blogs generally.

I am not a journalist, so I don't know the accepted definition of news, but I think that Google's criteria for inclusion in Google News is something akin to "Is this a primary news source?" rather than "Is this closer to a newspaper than to some arbitrary definition of a blog?" Don't forget that the term "blog" is a conjunction of the words "web log" which refers to the technologies that allow simple and largely automated updating of a web site, rather than some definition of the content on those web pages. There is nothing inherently wrong with including a source that uses "web log" technology as a source of "news." In fact, the web sites of many "news" organizations (NYTimes, LA Times, etc.) could be considered a "blog" under that definition.

If this site continues to use words like "asshat" and "anal rapage" and "retard", it will never be taken seriously as a news source.

Consumerist is a great site, but in my opinion it's definitely not worthy to be on Google news. It's not entirely consistent, there are heavy doses of ill-informed opinion, profanity and crudity. All fine for a blog, but not fine for main-stream news credibility.

@LatherRinseRepeat: That was exactly my thought but I didn't know how to put it.

When the writing in this blog "grows up" then it may stand a chance. Until then, I am withholding my recommendation.

Sorry to be a downer, but there's already a place for you on Google - it's called the "Blogs" link. You guys runs a pretty tight ship, but at the end of the day you're a blog, not a news organization. Now, granted the line between those 2 is becoming increasingly smeared and blurry, but until Google responds by merging their news/blog searches, I think you guys belong in the latter category.

If "mainstream" news media actually thought consumer issues were important I might...might...agree that it doesn't need to be added to Google News.

However, Consumerist has unique stories not just links to other news sites. Besides, as someone else has already stated Google News already includes blogs. I'm not withholding a recommendation because it's not serious; is Slashdot serious? I'm also not going to withhold it because I might not like every single article they post. Using that standard none of the news sources included in Google News deserve to be there.

Most of what the put up is good and some of it is information I wouldn't hear otherwise so it gets my vote.

I did my part.

So what if it's a blog? It has more "news" than most newspapers I read these days.

While I enjoy your site, after viewing the racist comment on one of your articles above this (...some guy in India with a laptop powered by a heifer's h...), I can't take you seriously as a news source, on par with Reuters, the BBC, or even Fox News. Go buy a book on professionalism in writing, establish a style guide for your writers, and then we'll talk.

LOL @ quagmire0!

I'm happy to put in a recommendation for LH...you guys have definetely helped me out more than a few times, and I gladly return the favor.