There was a time when if you put the words ‘miserable failure' into Google, George Bush's PR people must have been squirming. That's because a group of internet manipulators used their search engine optimisation knowledge to manipulate the rankings. They ensured George Bush's official biography on the White House website popped up at the top of Google whenever users typed ‘miserable failure' into the search engine. Google clocked onto this technique and created algorithms to stop what they dubbed ‘Google bombing' from happening again. But the technique gained notoriety, and internet marketers can learn some valuable lessons from Google bombing.
Internet marketing demands lateral thinking
The ability to link George Bush's profile to the words ‘miserable failure' is possible because Google doesn't just look at a website's content to determine whether it's relevant to the user. It looks at the number and quality of sites linked into and with those words. So by focusing on online communities and blogs, it's possible to build links from their sites into their chosen website – in this case, the White House.
Search engines love links
Internet marketing can clearly gain a lot from the idea of linking into a website to boost its ranking – even if in this case it was around generating negative PR. Google bombing has been credited to a blogger called Adam Mathes who is said to have invented the practice in 2001. It's thought it only took 32 web pages featuring the words ‘miserable failure' to link into the Bush biography for the Google bomb to work. Although Google now outlaws such techniques, link building or link baiting is still a valuable SEO tool.
Studying Google bomb techniques
According to one blogger, the instructions for the now infamous Bush Google bomb in 2003 read: "Let's get everyone to link to http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html with the words "Miserable Failure" Our goal is to make Shrubya the top Google pick…It's fun, it's easy just <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html" >Miserable Failure</a> in your favourite web page…"
Using the internet for political means can become a source of wit and humour, but studying the techniques can also be valuable for internet marketers. When during the run up to the Iraq war, somebody searched for ‘weapons of mass destruction' a fake-joke page came up stating "These weapons of mass destruction cannot be displayed".
Mass pranks v. internet marketing
Although mass link ‘pranks' are now stopped by Google, the impact of the Google bomb lingers. Type in ‘miserable failure' now, and you'll find articles from the BBC to numerous SEO blogs all debating the impact of the Bush Google bomb - proving that it can be impossible to get rid of bad publicity online as it leaves a trail of commentary behind. But Google's concern regarding the Google bombs was that internet users will think Google is behind the pranks – when in fact it's a group of individuals manipulating the search engine; a misconception that could damage the search engine's brand image.
Internet marketing – Be natural and organic
But internet marketers need to be wary. The best internet marketing practices are like good yoghurt – natural and organic. Link building or paid links for commercial gain are deemed ‘spam' by Google, and the search engine could even ban your website if it believes you are spamming. But as with all marketing, there are clever campaigns you can build. The best marketing ideas are organic to the product or company you work for. So if you're selling a book on grammar for instance, a great way to boost your website would be to tap into all the blogs that discuss the correct use of grammar. Get involved with the online debate and communities, and build links naturally. This boosts the value of your website as you increase your in-coming links, making you look more valuable in the search engine's eyes. And if you have something of genuine use to the web user, the stronger the likelihood what you're doing can't be misread as spam. Building links to reputable and authoritative websites is also crucial as this will give extra value to your site.
Getting under your customers' skins
It's worth noting if you are worried about link building leaving you with a black mark in Google's book, link building is perfectly legitimate. Search engines do not condemn link building as a practice. Link building, just as search engine optimisation techniques that employ keywords, is a legitimate technique. But Google does not like artificial link building – the more natural and authentic you are to the site you are promoting, the better. The links should have value to web users. Keeping the user in mind at all times will help shape successful link building and internet marketing techniques.