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Kerry Gets Google-Bombed
With the Democratic presidential nomination clinched, John Kerry was bound to get Google-bombed.
An effort by conservative bloggers has pushed the candidate's campaign website to the top of the result list when the word "waffles" is typed into Google. But Kerry's campaign is trying to capitalize on the prank.
The campaign has purchased Google AdWords, sponsored links that come up beside results when certain words are searched. The short links also refer to Kerry's website, but suggest users "read about President Bush's Waffles."
"When we heard people were linking the word 'waffles' with John Kerry, our thought was, 'This is ridiculous,'" said Morra Aarons, Internet grass-roots coordinator for John Kerry for President. "But our solution was to fight fire with fire."
Google-bombing has fast become a popular prank on the Web. Bloggers have found they can manipulate search results by hyperlinking unsavory labels to individual pages. The trick also works on Yahoo, Lycos and AltaVista.
The "waffles" campaign was apparently started by Pennsylvania law student Ken Jacobson on his Esoteric Diatribe blog. Bush has been bombed as well. The search "miserable failure" now brings up his official White House biography. He also was bombed last year with the phrase "dumb motherfucker," though that search now leads to a Wired News article on the subject.
The Bush campaign has not responded directly to these pranks. "Our position is that all of these actions are exercises for activists, and we are not taking any action of our own," said Scott Stanzel, Bush-Cheney '04 spokesman.
While the Republican campaign began its first Internet advertising campaign May 12, there are no plans to purchase any AdWords.
Kerry coordinator Aarons was not sure whether the Democratic candidate's camp would continue sponsoring links throughout the campaign, but said the price was marginal compared to television advertising.
http://wired.com/new...tw=wn_tophead_2
With the Democratic presidential nomination clinched, John Kerry was bound to get Google-bombed.
An effort by conservative bloggers has pushed the candidate's campaign website to the top of the result list when the word "waffles" is typed into Google. But Kerry's campaign is trying to capitalize on the prank.
The campaign has purchased Google AdWords, sponsored links that come up beside results when certain words are searched. The short links also refer to Kerry's website, but suggest users "read about President Bush's Waffles."
"When we heard people were linking the word 'waffles' with John Kerry, our thought was, 'This is ridiculous,'" said Morra Aarons, Internet grass-roots coordinator for John Kerry for President. "But our solution was to fight fire with fire."
Google-bombing has fast become a popular prank on the Web. Bloggers have found they can manipulate search results by hyperlinking unsavory labels to individual pages. The trick also works on Yahoo, Lycos and AltaVista.
The "waffles" campaign was apparently started by Pennsylvania law student Ken Jacobson on his Esoteric Diatribe blog. Bush has been bombed as well. The search "miserable failure" now brings up his official White House biography. He also was bombed last year with the phrase "dumb motherfucker," though that search now leads to a Wired News article on the subject.
The Bush campaign has not responded directly to these pranks. "Our position is that all of these actions are exercises for activists, and we are not taking any action of our own," said Scott Stanzel, Bush-Cheney '04 spokesman.
While the Republican campaign began its first Internet advertising campaign May 12, there are no plans to purchase any AdWords.
Kerry coordinator Aarons was not sure whether the Democratic candidate's camp would continue sponsoring links throughout the campaign, but said the price was marginal compared to television advertising.
http://wired.com/new...tw=wn_tophead_2
Not quite as funny as Bush's Google Bomb, but still pretty god-damned funny.
MultiQuote
Posted 26 May 2004 - 10:42 PM
