According to Kevin Ryan, the CEO of California-based Motivity Marketing, research shows that most people can't tell the difference between a paid result pages, like the ones BP have, and actual news pages. (Source: ABC News)That's just sad. But we'll come back to this in a minute.
Anyways, BP bought several internet searches to "direct internet users to the company’s own information about cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico." Search terms like "oil spill", "BP", and "Gulf Coast" all have a sponsored link by BP. The cost of this PR: $50 million. Here's a few screenshots I took today showing the sponsored links:
So here's the deal for those who don't know about sponsored links, those yellow boxes at the top of the pages, those are the ones directing people back to BP's site. BP is paying money to have them there.
Looks like Bobby Jindal and I agree on something:
Our people deserve to be fully compensated for their losses," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said in a news release recently. "Instead of BP shelling out $50 million on an ad campaign that promises to do good work in responding to this spill, BP should just focus on actually doing a good job and spend the $50 million on assistance to our people, our industries and our communities that are suffering as a result of this ongoing spill.
Totally agreed. Stop trying to spin this in your favor and DO something about it (the same goes for President Obama).
In the long run, is there anything wrong with this? On the whole...no, there is nothing wrong with BP trying to get some positive PR. Even news sources are biased to some degree. But know this, just because it's in the yellow box, doesn't make it any more special.
Damage Control: BP Buying Up Oil Spill Search Terms | New York Post
