BP damage control extends to purchasing search terms like 'oil spill' on Google, Yahoo
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted June 8th 2010 3:23PM
posted June 8th 2010 3:23PM
posted June 8th 2010 3:23PM
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Nothing wrong with this, IMO. BP is full of assholery, but there has been plenty said about them by members of Congress and the administration that just isn't true. Just because they've had/caused a huge oil spill doesn't mean they can't respond to criticism, plus BP needs to be completely accurate in managing its own public statements due to investor regulations. Nothing's forcing anyone to click on their links.
"...to make it easier for people to find out more about our efforts in the Gulf."
By saying "efforts" instead of "screw up", they're effectively making the sentence sound like they were doing charity.
PR is disgusting.
In other news federal officials have purchased search terms like 'indecisive, emergency permit, ineffective, incompetent, sand berm and the phrase "never let a crisis go to waste"' on Google, Yahoo, Bing...
Between Beyond Petroleum and their largest political contribution recipient who resides in the White House they have put on an impeccable clinic in how not to handle an environmental disaster.
@TimeForTheFairTax
You do know that BP stands for "British Petroleum", right?
Ah, whatever... people here is already talking about flooding the thing with some funny bacteria (yeah, right, let's do that. Oh wait, there's still the small issue of the BROKEN PIPE still leaking TONS of oil every minute. Uops!)
Let's stop making wild guesses of what's needed to do, even if we have no freaking clue about engineering. ¿Shall we?. There are a lot of REAL engineers working on a solution already, spending insane amounts of money to do it.
Wait! so we have no saying in all these? of course we do! we can send letters to our politicians, we can even let them know what we think about this with our votes! Heck, that's OUR job! ¿isn't it?
Just like you guys did when your government refused to sign the Kyoto Protocols! (oh, wait again...)
And hey, ¿what about attacking the base causes of all this, like spending almost as many petroleum as the rest of the world put together? let's ditch all those useless 400hp V12's, SUV's, minivans and whatever, and get EV's, hybrids or...hey, even Diesel cars would do a lot to help. You do know that those Diesel things have been being mass produced worldwide for almost a century, ¿right? yeah, in cars! ¿isn't it awesome?.
So, until you guys have done all that, please, stop pretending that you care about the environment anymore than BP does. Please. The rest of the world will thank you.
@Hamaki
It was a play on their ads slick - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVsPT6ePKPw
This is the bacteria they are talking about, BP and others have used it effectively in the past. http://www.osei.us/
As for engineers I am one and I can guarantee bean counters are still calling the shots. BP wants to save the well; and considering their resistance to making timely decisions (sand berms, boom placement...) the White House either wants a worse crisis to push their agenda or they haven't figured out how to motivate their beloved inept bureaucracy in an emergency either way they aren't doing well.
Regarding the Kyoto Protocol and various other enviro-wacko wealth redistribution schemes I most certainly did make calls and send my representatives emails requesting that they block them. Polution is one thing but I'm not buying the man made global warming myth any more than the man made ice age myth useful idiots used to push government power grabs in the 70s. I'm just fine with our use of petroleum products in all their forms be it fuels, plastics, medicines... and the hazards of obtaining them http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65363O20100604 percentage wise it looks like a good bet.
In the end as a duck hunter I'd say I care a bit more about those marshes than BP or the feds who took 30+ days to partially OK some "emergency permits" to keep the oil out of places it can't be cleaned.
Goto Twitter. Find @BPGlobalPR. 'Nuff said.
!! I didn't know keywords were for sale... !!
Why don't they put that money into useful things such as maybe PLUGGING UP THE GAPING HOLE or cleaning the oil up. Seriously...
@Midnightstar you got any ideas that might work? Throwing money around won't just magically plug up the hole. They have spent millions trying every method they can.
Unbelievable.
This just sets the stage for future "keyword" acquisitions by companies or individuals wishing to control the info about them.
The fact is, BP is not alone in the blame. News reports say that they knew the blowout preventer didn't work, and that a government engineer approved drilling without having proof it worked. BP obviously didn't have a contingency plan in the event the blowout preventer failed because they never believed it could happen. They obviously have never heard "Murphy's Law".
So a little PR isn't going to help BP. It's not going to bring back the jobs, the Gulf seafood industry, the tourist trade, etc. (BTW, "InLA" means "In Lower Alabama"). Bayou La Batre, a small town near the Gulf that is a center of the seafood industry will become a ghost town. Gulf Shores and to a lesser extent Dauphin Island will lose millions if not billions in lost tourist trade. Florida Beach towns will suffer for years. Cities in Louisiana and Mississippi will not fair well either, still not having completely recovered from Katrina.
In a way I feel for the BP exec that "wants his life back", I know his life will never be the same, but frankly neither will ours. We want our Gulf and our lifestyle back. This will kill the economy of this area for years if not decades along with the wildlife. It's very depressing to live here right now.
And as for Sarah Palin....BP is not to be trusted because their foreign? You didn't think so when your husband worked there, did you? He quit last year. Maybe it's his fault because if he hadn't quit he could have prevented this.
Makes as much sense as ANYTHING she has to say.
@JackInLA people actually listen to Sarah palin? I thought she was just sort of like Glenn beck, just kept around for the kicks.
You know, I think this is a Google issue to be discussed - the BP issue is being discussed elsewhere.
My problem with this is that Google is such a large platform for public information that it seems quite sinister that the information can be 'groomed' for a price. Where do we go for ungroomed information? Not the companies, nor the television, nor the search engines anymore.
@Decoy
Is buying some keywords and changing "how we're fixing our screw up" to "our efforts in the gulf" any different then any other media outlet? Isn't it up to the individual to figure out what's horsesh!t and what's not? I don't think anyone really believes that BP is blameless no matter what keywords they buy and as a consumer of information, I would have to be completely stupid to believe so BP PR.
@Decoy you know, the ads clearly state SPONSORED RESULTS and are kept away from the real, ungroomed search results. You cant blame Google for making money, they are a business you know
Cough*Piper Alpha*Cough
For those born in the last fifteen minutes, and that's quite a lot of people it seems, that was 167 deaths and the biggest environmental disaster on THIS side of the the same ocean as yours, on a rig owned by a current American oil & gas company. Though I don't recall our premier at the time calling their CEO an a'hole and a jerk and questioning his parentage or physical attributes. Just sayin'.