Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

No Press Is Bad Press Even Online

Posted by samzenpus on from the if-you-don't-have-anything-nice-to-say dept.

otter42 writes "The NYTimes has an 8-page exposé on how an online business is thriving because of giant amounts of negative reviews. It seems that if you directly google the company you have no problem discerning the true nature; but if you instead only google the brand names it sells, the company is at the top of the rankings. Turns out that all the negative advertisement he generates from reputable sites gives him countless links that inflate his pagerank."

5 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. No need to RTFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Thanks to the NYT's valiant efforts, you can be spared from reading TFA: just check out the comic instead.

  2. Nofollow? by WPIDalamar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Perhaps review sites should add nofollow attributes to their external links

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nofollow

    Maybe just for negative reviews?

  3. Re:Hyperlinks and Pagerank 101 by datapharmer · · Score: 5, Informative

    sure there is, use rel="nofollow" if you don't want to share link love.

    --
    Get a web developer
  4. Re:The kneejerk reactions by Blue+Stone · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Let's not forget CitiBank who apparently didn't give a shit that someone fraudulently closed the woman's disputed charge.

    I have an account run by CitiBank, and this has made me decide to close it - before I get subjected to their don't care approach.

    --
    Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
  5. 4Chan assemble by frap · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wouldn't wish 4Chan's wrath on my worst enemy but it sounds like this guy needs a taste of his own medicine to me.