Google warns PR firms: no link farming
I can't quite believe I'm reading this in PR Week in 2008, but the UK edition of the magazine has a story about Google warning PR firms not to pay for link farming and other dubious practices. Instead, the article tells us PROs should be working at having conversations with bloggers which will boost their search rankings.
I mean... where do you begin with this one. Here's my dismal thoughts:
- Not content at editing client's Wikipedia entries to manipulate public reputation PR firms have not got wise to what online marketing firms have been doing for years... and 'cheating'
- I know I keep saying the marketing profession is encroaching on the work of PR, but retaliating by taking up link farming etc is counter-productive
- I can't believe that in 2008 there are still PR firms who don't know anything about blogs, the internet and understand the reasons why they need to engage
- Oh yes... and that reason is about having real conversations with client's customers, listening to their feedback, praise and concerns and acting strategically
- PR is about communicating with your audience...... or not as the case may be for Volkswagen:
"Volkswagen Commercial (VWC) ran a successful trial programme 12 months ago that saw its search engine optimisation (SEO) provider, Net-rank, use an algorithm that searches the internet to find the most authoritative web sites and bloggers. It then sends four press releases to them every month."
As a blogger I can't think of anything I'd love more than being selected by a robot to receive four unsolicited press releases a month. Wow!
Seriously, I know I bang on about this - and there are some notable exceptions to the rule - but am I missing something or is the UK PR industry really not getting doing PR in a digitally empowered society?
Technorati tags: PR Week, UK PR industry, not getting it, hang heads in shame
Unfortunately, I don't have a subscription to PR Week and can't read the full article. However, it's crazy to think that some public relations people need to be reminded link farming is not a valid tactic.
Posted by: Jill | January 11, 2008 at 08:55 PM
Simon,
You've taken the words right out of my blogging mouth. I just read the same article in PR Week over a cheeky Friday night beer and almost choked.
When I read pieces like that, it makes me wonder whether I'm living in an extreme digital PR world where we (bloggers and social media types) are at the tip of the early adopter curve, or as an alternative the PR world really has some work to do to understand how publics and the tools we use in PR have changed.
The latter's probably right, but it still surprises me that so much of our profession is still coming to terms with how things are now.
Posted by: Simon Wakeman | January 11, 2008 at 08:56 PM
Jill - I'll email you the full stroy. It has to be seen to be believed!
Simon - Everytime I look at this post I still can't believe what I'm reading. Any PR firm/manager that uses an SEO agency to conduct blogger relations deserves to be fired.
You would have thought that given all the bluster from the CIPR on the threats posed by the evil internet that they'd have an opinion/set of rules on this kind of stuff... but, erm... no!
Posted by: Simon Collister | January 11, 2008 at 10:06 PM
It's not just the UK PR industry. While the US is supposedly "ahead" of the rest of the world in working with bloggers, you'd be surprised how many disingenuous things we're asked to do.
Posted by: Melanie Seasons | January 11, 2008 at 10:14 PM
Not all us SEO's are spammers you know!
Blogger relations is really going to become a battleground/area of collaboration between SEOs and PRs.
They perhaps might have different ideas of what is important and who is influential but they have similar goals and the best practice is the same
Posted by: kelvin newman | January 14, 2008 at 04:46 PM
Sorry Kelvin.. it's nothing personal! Although I;d argue that blogger relations is about than just good search visibility (although that's a tasty by-product). BR is about builidng a solid relatiomnship with your customers - influential or otherwise. Real, meaningful communication should be the goal for all PR firms - not just a momentary buzz.
But definitely agree that best practices overlap....
Posted by: Simon Collister | January 14, 2008 at 04:58 PM
You're right Simon clients should be carefull with any agency offering a service seemingly beyond their strengths.
Just as long as you don't think all SEOs are out to get links at the expense of relationships...
We just like relationships with links in them!
Posted by: kelvin newman | January 14, 2008 at 05:30 PM
How pragmatic! Apologies for those typos in my previous comment!
Posted by: Simon Collister | January 14, 2008 at 05:33 PM