Published by Jenny on 17 Nov 2009
Disclaimer at the foot of Google News UK:
“The selection and placement of stories on this page were determined automatically by a computer program.”
Please can someone at Google have a word with the person in charge of the algorithm – almost every day an inappropriate story gets coughed up into the Entertainment section. Today’s example is pretty extreme -
Nestled in between
Published by Janine on 08 Oct 2009
We all know Ryanair are famous for their Irish charm, cheap flights and lets say, ‘cheap stunts’ to get media attention. Well the latest news from camp Ryanair is that they are going to let passengers smoke on their flights.
Published by Jenny on 02 Oct 2009
Being algorithmically determined, Google News sometimes spews up some strange results.
Most of these strange results are quite amusing, or just gently misleading. Such as the main headline referring to one football team proclaiming “We wuz robbed” next to a picture of a player from the opposition.
A bit more disturbing is the tendency for stories to end up in the wrong news category, most often with a Weird World / Quirky story appearing in Entertainment.
Published by Janine on 29 Sep 2009
As social media is playing a more active part in many organisations, WebCertain MD, Andy Atkins-Kruger decided to hold a Twitter Training session, the idea being to maximise website traffic and to enhance company engagement with their audience. After all, social media is a cost-effective marketing solution with real time search benefits.
Published by Jenny on 14 May 2009
The fourth International Search Summit hosted by WebCertain is taking place at the moment. This conference is focussed on Social Media. Whether you weren’t able to attend, or just want a reminder of what was said – here’s an overview…
Also follow #isslon on Twitter for live updates.
Published by Jenny on 21 Apr 2009
Although this blog is dedicated to sharing positive, cheery advice on how to get on in the online PR field, the first thing that anyone in communications needs to learn is think about what you’ve written before you press ’send’!
One hapless PR (not that she deserves any sympathy) has discovered the troubles that can be caused by a thoughtless pun – especially when bloggers and tweeters can make a mistake big news in minutes.
The excellent Lost in Showbiz blog (not connected to the Guardian blog as far as I know) keeps us all our toes, correctly highlighting the pretentiousness, deceit and general, unconvincing uselessness of many press releases.
They’ve got a humdinger today. Once of the most thoughtless headlines imaginable has destroyed a harmless release about a supposed poll on the best war films of all time.
Here’s the intro, can you spot the obvious error?
From: libby@swns.com [mailto:libby@swns.com]
Sent: 21 April 2009 10:51
To: NationalNews
Subject: SCHINDLER’S LIST IS GREATEST WAR MOVIEWOULD JEW BELIEVE IT
NEWS COPY
Schindler’s List was yesterday (Tue) named the greatest war movie of all time.
Read more at Lost in Showbiz
Thanks to Twitter and other social networking sites, this story is flying around quicker than you can say “viral marketing”.
Do share more howlers here, or at our Global Social forums - and chat about it on Twitter…
Published by Janine on 17 Apr 2009
Internet PR and Marketing investment continually rises, while offline spend is in decline, marketers are continually looking for new methods and approaches to suit business needs. The current climate of the economy has forced many companies to re-strategise in many areas, where spend is minimalistic and productivity potentially maximised.
With virtual social networking taking the world by storm it’s no wonder marketers have already jumped on the band wagon promoting their businesses and colleagues, for example, the use of Twitter has totally entranced our colleagues here @ WebCertain, follow: @globalppc @starbuck8 @jennysimpson @davidsegal @davidecorradi @ballueder @WebCertain @J__9 @YorkSEO @globalseo @andyatkinskruge @seoprtips @newscertain @WebCertain_DE @AnaVLeckenby @oscarcarreras, for updated information on specialised areas of multilingual search!
Promoting the latest international search summit, general information about PR, SEO, link building, PPC etc… has developed a wider knowledge on each subject, by sharing and re-tweeting relevant data to enhance the specialised knowledge arena WebCertain hold.
Many businesses and organisations are using online facilities and companies such as WebCertain not only for English articles, as we are multilingual; multiple languages from across the globe play a large part in how they operate, especially for clients. Online PR is a great way of getting your company, news / press releases / data, relayed around the world, especially using press release sites with an overseas domain, rather than the traditional offline methods. This however, does vary upon client needs; everyone wants something different and to be unique, so be adaptable and knowledgeable on your subject arena to create the best possible service for your company and your clients!
Published by Janine on 03 Apr 2009
Compare the introductions of these two stories.
From AFP: Guinea-Bissau delays presidential polls
BISSAU (AFP) — Polls to elect a successor to Guinea-Bissau’s assassinated president Joao Bernardo Vieira were pushed back until the end of June on Wednesday as critics of the army reported increasing abuses.
Former prime minister Francisco Jose Fadul, who also heads an opposition party, said he had been beaten up by men in uniform at his home in an attack that the rights group Amnesty International said was part of a pattern. SOURCE
and
From Wiki News: Guinea-Bissau to hold elections this June
The prime minister of the western African country of Guinea-Bissau has announced that the country will further postpone elections until June due to increasing violence. Elections are in order to replace the former president, who was assassinated last month. Francisco Jose Fadul, the nation’s former prime minister, says that he has been beaten by men that he claims were in uniform and working for Amnesty International. SOURCE
Oh dear, spot the deliberate mistake…
(Thanks to Donnacha Delong)
