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Fake essay services banned by Google

The BBC reports that Google will no longer accept advertising on its AdWords system from providers of academic essays.

You’ve probably seen some of the ads. Why bother to write that paper, when you can browse a library of existing papers and make the purchase online? [Heck, why not go all the way and just buy the whole degree from one of those diploma mills?]

But those are the easy ones for instructors to spot. Just Google a few key phrases or require that students submit all assignments via turnitin.com where they will be checked for plagiarism.

Much more difficult, if not impossible, to detect are the custom-written papers for those who can afford to pay thousands to a ghostwriter.

Starting next month, none of these business will be able to tout their services via AdWords.

At least one British company is crying foul, claiming the search engine’s new policy could cut its business by 80 per cent. What a shame.