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Jan Moir, Trafigura, Carter-Ruck and Reputation Management in the Twitter Age
0 Comments | Posted by andy in SEO Glossary
This time last week, who can honestly say that they had any more than a passing knowledge of oil distributor Trafigura or reputation lawyer firm Carter-Ruck? Whilst there may be a few out there, I’m reasonably confident that those numbers have swollen significantly over the last seven days.
How about Jan Moir? As a former Outstanding Woman Journalist of the Year, respected food critic with The Telegraph and more recently a columnist with The Daily Mail, you’re more likely to have read her work or heard the name discussed somewhere. Although, that said, she was still far from a household name.
A mere seven days ago, finding a common link between the aforementioned Trafigura, Carter-Ruck and Moir might prove a little tricky; without straying too far into the tenuous or studying genealogy for hours of course. But today they have the unique distinction of having their indiscretions pilloried throughout the world.
Their downfalls weren’t played out like those in days gone by though. There was no gradual Woodward and Bernstein sleuthing, no editorial coverup. The alleged suppression of parliamentary questions and the controversial claims made about the circumstances surrounding Boyzone singer Stephen Gately’s untimely death were reported in real-time. They were distributed on Twitter.
Trafigura Discover the Streisand Effect
Whilst the media were concerned about the ramifications of publishing a question asked in Parliament by MP Paul Farrelly, Twitter took over. The Guardian couldn’t cover the remarks, which centred around Trafigura’s alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast. The embargo had been placed a month earlier, and staunchly defended by Carter-Ruck, a City law firm who were to suppress news whilst protecting their client’s reputation. Unfortunately for both businesses, this embargo didn’t cover social media.
By the morning of Tuesday October 13th, speculation that the news involved Trafigura spread onto Twitter and soon it was top of the trending topics; despite most users being oblivious to the actual content. The Guardian helped spread the #Trafigura tag and soon bloggers, including Guido Fawkes, were posting the question and discussing the case openly.
Carter-Ruck’s attempts to quell any negative publicity backfired spectacularly. Whilst significant, the story would almost certainly have never had the same impact were it not for this unconstitutional intervention. It triggered what is commonly known as a ‘Streisand Effect’; where the attempted suppression of a story actually helps it spread. By publicising that they didn’t want publicity, they fuelled a worldwide Twitter storm. This ultimately meant they had to lift the injunction and the whole world knew that the two companies had been in cahoots to silence the media and, more worryingly, parliament. Not clever.
Daily Mail Lost in a Twitter Storm
From the world of corporate big business down to a tabloid newspaper columnist, nobody is safe from the Twitterverse’s wrath. When writing her piece ‘Why there was nothing ‘natural’ about Stephen Gately’s death’ (since renamed), Moir can have safely assumed that it may receive a mixed reaction. Released on the eve of the singer’s funeral, the accusation-laden and highly opinionated piece (putting it nicely) was a widespread controversy waiting to happen. Unfortunately, Moir didn’t have to wait long.
Almost as soon as it appeared in both the physical and online form of the Daily Mail, people were quick to chastise the article and its author. Within a couple of hours, Jan Moir was trending on Twitter; her small column which probably gets a few thousand readers, was suddenly the number one online destination. Celebrities including Stephen Fry and Derren Brown lead the attacks on Moir, with trans-Atlantic backing from the likes of über blogger Perez Hilton; helping build added momentum to what was already an out-of-control gargantuan snowball effect. In fact even SEO heavyweights weighed in. Malcolm Coles was one of the most vocal and started a highly successful campaign to have advertisers remove their adverts on the page. There was no escaping the outrage for the Mail or Moir.
The content of the article itself is not up for debate here. What was said is so well publicised it barely needs any additional airtime. It’s the backlash that will raise eyebrows. Suddenly the general public has moved seamlessly from quiet observer to judge, jury and executioner; their platform is no longer a mild-mannered letter to the editor, it’s digital, it’s real-time, it’s social media.
Moir could have had no idea that her one ill-advised aberration would be covered in such lurid detail across the worldwide media. She probably only had a vague understanding of what Twitter and Facebook were, and was ignorant to their potential to dethrone anybody. Following the events of the last week people will have to wise up.
Managing Reputations on Social Media
Social media isn’t something you can silence, it can’t be quelled by fancy lawyers and isn’t bound by the same conventions as the press. As a high profile writer, company or any public figure, the consequences of any actions you undertake can’t be swept under the carpet any more. Social media is growing, so therefore are the amount of eyes and ears watching every move. The moment a news story breaks, it has the potential to go global in moments. Never before has there been this kind of power, both for positive and negative.
Does this have a detrimental effect on freedoms? It’s hard to see how. Claims that Twitter suppresses the freedom of speech are ludicrous. Twitter is a platform to say what you want; you just have to be prepared for the consequences if it flies in the face of public convention.
The message to online businesses is therefore one of restraint. If you’re looking to build a reputation through social media, you have to be prepared for the positives as well as the negatives. The Press Complaints Commission received 22,000 public complaints following the Jan Moir article; more than the sum total of all the complaints that they’d received in the preceding five years. Public feeling is easily stoked, and social media is the perfect platform from which to do it.
Whether it’s the Streisand Effect or general outrage at publicly accessible information, you have to be careful what you do and say in the public domain today. Reputations can be built on social media, but they can also be shattered in an instant. It has to be respected and you have to understand how to manage your reputation; always remember, bad news travels fast online.
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24
Google and Microsoft Complete Twitter Deal to Herald Real-time Search Era
0 Comments | Posted by andy in SEO Glossary
It appears that real-time search could finally become a reality. Following our post earlier in the month, Twitter negotiating real-time search deal with Microsoft and Google, it looks like the ink is now drying on an agreement that will see the aforementioned search engines gain complete access to the social media site’s network.
This is a brave new world for search engines and could well change the way we view and use SERPs in the future. Bing and Google are now free to start developing ways to incorporate Twitter feeds into their searches, opening up unique opportunities for the respective engines and their users.
The news today had a slightly unexpected twist, when Microsoft also announced that it would be adding Facebook updates into the mix (not something that was originally mooted). Whilst Twitter will be first on the agenda, despite its non-exclusivity, the Facebook integration could certainly add a new dynamic to Bing, particularly if the earlier real-time assimilation proves a success.
Without going too far into the realms of tabloid speculation, Microsoft may well have been aided in the procuring of Facebook rights due to their earlier investment and continued advertising support. With dual streams of content, Bing could very well be on the cusp of getting one over on its far more illustrious counterpart. As Facebook remains the dominant force in social media it will be interesting to see how Microsoft is able to siphon information in a way that adds value to their developing real-time services.
The new deal means that both Google and Microsoft have full access to Twitter’s online content. Every tweet can effectively be mined and shown within the search engine results, adding far more visibility and integration across the different media platforms.
Bing of course was a pioneer of real-time search, being one of the first to include a Twitter feed, as limited as that was at the time. Google though have the knowledge and the online prowess to optimise their Twitter compatibility and create something that Internet users will flock to. So how they choose to start including tweets will be down to their own individual standpoint, creating a potential polarity between the two.
This of course is only the first step in what is likely to be a prolonged developmental pathway. But with Google and Microsoft announcing the news on the same date, October 22nd 2009 could well prove to be a pivotal moment in the history of search engine development. It will certainly be interesting to see how it affects SERPs and the culture surrounding search, which of course includes SEO, in the coming months.
Currently Google are still developing their concept, whilst Microsoft have realeased a very tentative Beta site; although when recently tested this wasn’t actually operational. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this developing story and will report upon any further developments from either party. All we do know is that real-time search engines have finally reached their sink or swim moment, can full social media integration ever work? Well, we’ll soon find out.
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Web Directory
A website that contains a list of websites that are relevant and organised to set topics to help searchers find the site relevant to their needs.
White Hat
The use of optimisation techniques that are deemed to be ethical and not misleading.
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TrustRank
Attempts to value pages based on who is linking to them and the authority they have.
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Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search engine marketing is the process of marketing a website via the search engines by use of SEO and PPC.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search engine optimisation refers to the act of optimising a website to improve its rankings in the search engines.
Site Map
A page that gives and overview of an entire website similar to a table of contents in a book.
Splash Page
A page that is positioned between a websites homepage and the actual homepage that are typically used to provide an graphical introduction.
Most people find these pages annoying and are damaging to the optimisation of a website and so should be avoided if possible.
Stop Words
Keywords that search engines deem irrelevant and ignore when reviewing websites.
These words consist of terms such as “the” “if” “a” etc.
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Rankings
Otherwise known as search engine rankings or keyword rankings refer to the positioning of a website in the search engines for the keywords it has been optimised for.
Real Simple Syndication (RSS)
Real Simple Syndication is an XML based web feed format.
Reciprocal Link
A situation where one site links to another and the other site links back.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Otherwise known as Return on Investment is a measurement of the effectiveness of a paid campaign. ROI is calculated as follows:
ROI = (Sales – Cost of Advertsing) / Cost
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PageRank
PageRank is a trademarked term of Google. This is a patented process with the patent assigned to Stanford University where the founders of Google developed their process.
It is a link analysis concept that assigns weight to web pages so that their relevance and importance can be scored.
Web pages are scored from 0 – 10 (though the true data goes much deeper than this) with 10 being the most popular and relevant.
Paid Search
An advertising model where by advertisers pay search engines for traffic normally on a pay per click basis.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
Pay per click is a business model where by you pay for advertising when a searcher clicks on your advert and is delivered to your website not just when your advert is displayed.
Phrase Match
A matching option in Google AdWords which allows you to bid on phrases.
This means that your add will only be shown if that exact phrase is searched for or as part of a larger query containing that term.
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Off Page Optimisation
Refers to the process of optimising your website through the use of link building.
One Way Link
A link that links one site to another that is not then linked back to.
Organic Search
The search engines free natural listings on the left hand side of the page.
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Natural Search
Refers to a websites natural listings (the ones that appear on the left of the screen).
Negative Keywords
Negative Keywords are used in Google AdWords as way of ensuring that adverts are not shown in conjunction with any of the keywords in your negative keyword list.
For example if you were a company selling IPods the keywords “Free” would probably be a negative.
More here: Negative Keywords Produce Positive Results
NoFollow
A tag used to stop search engines parsing on PageRank to sites linked to the host site.
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Meta
Is used to inform the search engines of extra information regarding to a website.
Although Meta is placed in Meta tags does not provide formatting information only information such as a sites keywords, description and authors.
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