Google unblocks Scamp blog

UK ad industry blog suspended for a day

13 August 2008 13:24 GMT / By Katie Scott

A blog run by UK ad execs for industry gossip was suspended by Google after a formal complaint about one of the comments.

Scamp was shut down yesterday (Tuesday 12 August) for breaching the conditions of Google blogging platform, Blogger.

Although unconfirmed, Media Week says that Google shut down the blog after an official complaint over a posted comment.

The Blogger admin team simply posted the message: "This blog has been flagged for Use of hate speech."

Blogger author, Simon Veksner, creative director at Bartle Bogle Hegarty, ended his first post since the suspension saying: "Google suspended Scamp after someone complained about a comment in the Sauce Poll post a few days ago."

Google hasn't informed Scamp which post was complained about, but Veksner has his suspicions saying that the strength of feeling in the comments section in the Sauce Poll led him to believe that it was the one.

Readers objected to a comment that referred to having sex with people with disabilities.

Initially, Scamp did not remove the original comment because it said the author’s intention was not primarily to offend.

The post has now been removed and Scamp has asked for people not to post any more "hate crime".