PR firm pushing anti-Google message for undisclosed client

http://pastebin.com/zaeTeJeJ

by tytso • 15 years ago

133 57 15 years ago

pastebin.com

itg• 15 years ago

Don't see how this is a "scandal" of any kind. These tactics aren't uncommon.

RexRollman2• 15 years ago

That doesn't make it right.

ltamake• 15 years ago

But it's nothing new. :P

tensafefrogs• 15 years ago

related: "Google deflects PR firm's attack of Gmail privacy" http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2011-05-06-google_n.htm

recoiledsnake5• 15 years ago

From that article:

>The service also privately sends each Gmail user the names of "secondary connections," a listing of the people each direct connection happens to be following publicly on the Web.

So it will show me the friends of my friends? What is this obsession with degrading privacy in this way? Didn't Google learn lessons from the way Buzz exposed your friends to other friends? Why can't email and chat be just that? If I want social networking I will use a social networking site.

If this continues, I will look at making another email service my primary email.

haberman• 15 years ago

It's only showing you information that is already public (the people your friends are publicly following).

aresant• 15 years ago

"Caught" seems like a funny word to use.

They pretty clearly lay out a case that this is an interesting story, and all's fair in love and PR.

In fact the email they're sending seems relatively benign compared to what I expected to see.

And the juiciest part of the story - who's paying the PR person - is missing.

Wondering why this wound up @ the top of HN as a result?

EDIT - Slightly more interesting (err, predictable) if MSFT is the culprit? http://www.catchingflack.com/2007/09/burson-marsteller-outed...

RexRollman2• 15 years ago

If it is Microsoft, they are wasting their money.

rbanffy• 15 years ago

They have lots of it

recoiledsnake5• 15 years ago

More likely to be Facebook, since Social Circles seems to be directly competing with them, not Microsoft.

warfangle• 15 years ago

Which is kind of funny, comparing GOOG's privacy with Facebook's privacy.

jbooth• 15 years ago

I think the story's notable to people because it highlights the pervasiveness of this kind of thing. Good reminder to keep your critical thinking hat on.

asknemo2• 15 years ago

Google's announcing something about music on the cloud this month. Related?

shrikant• 15 years ago

John Mercurio is the the Director of the Media practice in Burson-Marsteller and more interestingly, "a leading political expert on national politics, campaigns and Capitol Hill"

http://www.burson-marsteller.com/newsroom/lists/PressRelease...

raganwald• 15 years ago

Seems like a good time to revist Paul's essay "The Submarine:"

PR is not dishonest. Not quite. In fact, the reason the best PR firms are so effective is precisely that they aren't dishonest. They give reporters genuinely valuable information. A good PR firm won't bug reporters just because the client tells them to; they've worked hard to build their credibility with reporters, and they don't want to destroy it by feeding them mere propaganda.

If anyone is dishonest, it's the reporters. The main reason PR firms exist is that reporters are lazy. Or, to put it more nicely, overworked. Really they ought to be out there digging up stories for themselves. But it's so tempting to sit in their offices and let PR firms bring the stories to them. After all, they know good PR firms won't lie to them.

A good flatterer doesn't lie, but tells his victim selective truths (what a nice color your eyes are). Good PR firms use the same strategy: they give reporters stories that are true, but whose truth favors their clients.

http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

jgroome• 15 years ago

Very true. Reminds me of the concept of "churnalism" outlined in Nick Davies' book Flat Earth News [1].

Thanks for the link. Am now off to read that essay.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Davies#Critical_reaction_o...

cglee• 15 years ago

Selective truth != truth. I'd say selectively presenting one side is dishonest. I don't have anything against companies who are dishonest, but let's call a spade a spade: PR companies are spin doctors. They're dishonest. That's not quite straight out lying, but to me the very definition of dishonesty is not presenting all of the truth if you can.

wibblenut• 15 years ago

You're right, but "dishonesty" is a dirty word, despite not necessarily always being bad or immoral. It's up to journalists to perform balanced reporting. We trust them to do that.

Lazy journalists that simply rewrite press releases, emails from their friends, or otherwise fail to do any meaningful research are the ones truly deserving of the label "dishonest" (amongst others!).

lsc2• 15 years ago

>I'd say selectively presenting one side is dishonest.

do you vote with your dollars in this regard?

If there was a bigger PR penalty for not revealing unpleasant truths and maybe more support for a company that does reveal unpleasant truths about itself, more companies would be more open.

yuhong2• 15 years ago

Yea, I have considered "legacy" PR fundamentally flawed for a while now.

ollysb• 15 years ago

If I was the PR company for google I'd be pretty pleased with the 12 stories they have on the HN front page at the moment.

msredmond2• 15 years ago

This is pretty standard -- get anti-Google (and Microsoft, and Apple) pitches all the time. About the only thing that isn't standard is the fact that the PR firm won't say who their client is. That pretty much never happens (at least to me). So the fact that they won't say who it is makes it kinda interesting, but it could just be some nutjob somewhere who decided to spend his money on hiring a PR firm.

ma2rten• 15 years ago

Was it you ms-redmond ?

msredmond2• 15 years ago

;-)

Nah, I'm a journalist, on the receiving end (and also, being a journalist, poor).

oinksoft• 15 years ago

Google crawls publicly available data and uses it -- scandal! This is getting old, but it seems like some people still need a reminder: If you submit information about yourself that you know will be publicly viewable, you have no right at all to anger. I think that some people truly still do not understand how the internet works, and think that login page == walled garden privacy.

yanw• 15 years ago

I'm glad that this sample is available, there were always the rumors about another big PR firm 'Edelman' hired for this sort of thing, the subject isn't always privacy they are also beating the antitrust drum, Google spokesman in DC called it then an 'Anti-Google industry complex'.

hackermom• 15 years ago

In other news, Google fanboy is caught pointing fingers on people disliking Google.

tshtf• 15 years ago

Do you even know who Christopher Soghoian is?

alecco• 15 years ago

True Enough - The second age of PR http://www.cjr.org/feature/true_enough.php

IanDrake• 15 years ago

Just from the standpoint of better understanding the value of PR firms makes me glad I read this.

asknemo2• 15 years ago

I am very surprised this is the first time someone try to get everyone's attention on this practice (if that's the intention of the poster/submitter). It's quite easy to spot recently there are well-timed attacks on Google or Android which are oddly fueled with passion. I suppose any money spent on this (which should be significant) would be way better used if it's used to improve whatever product the client have in competition with Google, really. End users, ultimately, won't benefit from these.

brudgers• 15 years ago

In other news, undisclosed client employs Chiat\Day to push anti-Microsoft message over a period of one decade.

Husafan• 15 years ago

Perhaps this guy's promoting his book:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/9/e-totalitaria...

dsl• 15 years ago

I don't care who is slinging the mud, but I do agree with the message.

Where in the hell do I opt-out of "Social Circle"?

meric• 15 years ago

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/security/facebook-exposed-u...

Counter-PR?

nviennot• 15 years ago

Ho... now it makes sense.. http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/12/swallowing-puke/

PR firm pushing anti-Google message for undisclosed client

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