Agreements reviewed by The Times show the water district hired a consultant to produce the upbeat stories. Readers who typed "Central Basin Municipal Water District" into Google News got a story hailing the benefits of a new recycled water system. Another prominently listed piece praises the agency it its legal battle over groundwater rights.
The articles appear on News Hawks Review, which resembles professional news website. The site is indexed on Google News, carries advertisements and boasts an "experienced and highly knowledgeable" staff of editors and reporters. But records show it is directly affiliated with a corporate communications firm doing work for Central Basin.
It's fairly common for private-sector businesses and celebrities to game search engines to generate positive buzz or better sales. But Web experts said they had never heard of a public entity employing such a strategy to increase its visibility online. They also question whether Google would continue to classify News Hawks Review as a "news channel" if it knew the articles were paid for by the district.
District officials portray the arrangement as innovative, noting that people who search for "water conservation" or "recycled water" on Google News were now more likely to find stories about Central Basin.
Valerie Howard, the district's public affairs manager, said the articles caused a "huge spike" in traffic to Central Basin's main website and proved far more effective than traditional news releases.
No comments:
Post a Comment