[myNetWords.com]
A technique used to discredit someone. It consists of linking a Google search on a (usually negative) keyword with a website that would not normally be associated with it. Suppose you hate Nicolas Sarkozy and you have a blog. You put the expression “catastrophic President” in a post, then you copy the address of Nicolas Sarkozy’s website and paste this URL together with the expression “catastrophic President”, then you ask all your friends to do the same. Because a number of people have linked that expression with Nicolas Sarkozy’s website, the search engine (Google) will think that the two are connected. From then on, anyone searching for “catastrophic President” stands a good chance of being directed to Nicolas Sarkozy’s website.
Bombing (Google bombing)
Updated : Tuesday 2 February 2010
- There’s a reason for using the French President Sarkozy as an example, as he is one of the most heavily “Google bombed" people, certainly in France. First, in 2005, his name was linked with the wicked cartoon anti-hero Iznogood, and it got worse in the summer of 2009, when Google bombing linked him with the “asshole of the internet”. In other words, if you typed that in as a keyword, in French, the President’s site was the first to come up. In the USA, the honour went to Bush.
- It took only 10 not especially influential bloggers to launch an effective Google bombing against the mail order firm 3 Suisses using the keyword “incompetence”. The bloggers were protesting about the fact that 3 Suisses had not apologised to internauts (which they did in the end, under the weight of internet pressure) for having made false promises. They had offered a giant TV screen for 179 euros (the advertisement had left off a 0 by mistake). The internauts responded with this Google bombing, though their joy was short-lived. Clearly, it isn’t only celebrities who are threatened by Google bombing, as businesses can also be targeted.
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