Google apologises for removing gay bars from the search engine

Google has earned the ire of social media recently after the Shift Club, a Sydney gay bar, revealed that its Google Maps listing is being removed for not meeting standards of quality. Shift Bar promoter Ash Doran even posted a message about it on his Facebook account. Representatives of the search giant quickly responded with an apology.

News.com.au reports that on Monday, staff of the Shift Club requested to update their name on the online mapping tool only to be met with a notice that their listing will be removed because it is a gay bar. According to the emailed reply from Google Support, the business is "not eligible for display on Google Maps per our quality guidelines. Specifically, Gay night clubs.”

Sydney Morning Herald reports that Doran immediately took to Facebook to vent his frustration. He posted a message there after getting into a conference call with the search engine's representative. The email, which was reportedly sent from the company's call centre in India, came after the call.

It is a surprising move from Google, a company that is a known key sponsor of Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. It has even signed an open letter that supports marriage equality in Australia. Thus, the response came as a surprise. Representatives from the company's main office immediately tried to rectify the situation by offering an apology.

"We are big believers in diversity. We will make sure the Shift's listing stays proudly up," Google employee Andrew Ure said, adding to the Facebook commentary. A spokeswoman for Google Australia also told Fairfax Media that the company is dealing with the issue internally to make sure it doesn't happen again. She noted that, as always, gay bars are welcome on Google Maps.

In response to the apologies, Doran once again posted on Facebook to close the issue, saying that while many commenters point out that Google can't be blamed for something a call centre agent writes to clients, the company is still liable for the employees that they contract or hire.

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