Reflections

BP Buys Top Sponsor Links From Google and Yahoo To Improve Its Image

Posted by on Jun 8, 2010 | 2 Comments

Like the rest of you, I have been watching the news each evening and I have been totally dismayed at how BP is handling the oil spill in the gulf. What is scary about this scenario is that there are other oil rigs sitting off shore around the world that face the same potential for disaster. How many other safety features that these oil rigs have may not function properly when another disaster strikes?

When the CEO of BP hit my TV screen recently, assuring us that BP was our friend, I thought to myself this guy is as sincere as a rock. BP seems to think that a well run PR campaign will show it as run by a loving, caring, compassionate bunch when we all know they couldn’t care less about the 11 people who lost their lives on the rig when it exploded. We also know that these idiots haven’t a real clue how to stop this mess and need a swift ‘kick in the ass’ as Obama stated.

Now BP is buying sponsor links so when you type in ‘oil spill’ or something similar, its sponsored links come along with the search results. A recent article states:

Companies buy sponsored links (which are clearly labeled as such) at the top of search results so their side of the story is the first a member of the public sees when he or she searches for information. The links at the top of the Yahoo and Google results link to BP’s “Gulf of Mexico Response” page, which hosts articles and videos explaining how BP is trying to resolve the environmental crisis.

Enough with the PR. Fix the leak!

Comments welcome.

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  • D

    From Wikipedia:

    On March 23, 2005, a fire and explosion occurred at BP’s Texas City Refinery in Texas City, Texas, killing 15 workers and injuring more than 170 others. BP was charged with violating federal environment crime laws and has been subject to law suits from the victim’s families. Later an $87 million fine was imposed by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which claimed that BP had failed to implement safety improvements following the disaster.

    People soon forget that working for BP is comparable for signing your death certificate beforehand. Rather than telling you feel good platitudes…a better PR campaign would be to show you the faces of those who died on the rig & at Texas City.

    Whenever you have a system where money is put before the your safety…this will keep happening. Paying fines & judgments from law suits will always be cheaper than doing what’s right. You want to stop it…you buy none of their products…get rid of your gas guzzlers & demand more from businesses.