Reputation management firms bury Google results by placing flattering content(wsj.com)
wsj.com
Reputation management firms bury Google results by placing flattering content
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-1-scrubs-its-image-online-11576233000
22 comments
This isn't even anything new.
My first dev job out of college was in 2012 at a small media agency. We had some bigger clients, but we also still managed some super basic websites for local doctors, lawyers, etc that were some of our first clients when we the company was just starting up.
One day the CEO comes in and says, "We need someone to work with another company to make some changes to one of the websites and this is urgent". Since I was new and it was just text changes I got assigned the task.
Basically, one of the plastic surgeons who's site we managed was being sued for malpractice, and it was high profile enough that it made some local news websites. This surgeon hired a "reputation management" company to do pretty much what was explained in this article.
My job was basically to get on a call with this company and make the changes they requested, which was basically taking lines from the articles and working them into the surgeons website. So if a news article's said "The Daytona Beach plastic surgeon is accused of malpractice" we would go through his website and change text from "Dr Bloblaw" to "The Daytona Beach plastic surgeon" where ever we could. Additionally, they requested that I hide "Dr Bloblaw malpractice" and similar terms in small white text all over every page and some other black hat SEO shit. I'm sure there was more to it, since I took 3 or 4 calls with them spread out over a month, but I can't remember more details.
I'm long gone from that company and I'm sure those techniques don't work anymore, but yeah, in one form or another this type of reputation management is probably as old as SEO.
(Names and locations are changed)
My first dev job out of college was in 2012 at a small media agency. We had some bigger clients, but we also still managed some super basic websites for local doctors, lawyers, etc that were some of our first clients when we the company was just starting up.
One day the CEO comes in and says, "We need someone to work with another company to make some changes to one of the websites and this is urgent". Since I was new and it was just text changes I got assigned the task.
Basically, one of the plastic surgeons who's site we managed was being sued for malpractice, and it was high profile enough that it made some local news websites. This surgeon hired a "reputation management" company to do pretty much what was explained in this article.
My job was basically to get on a call with this company and make the changes they requested, which was basically taking lines from the articles and working them into the surgeons website. So if a news article's said "The Daytona Beach plastic surgeon is accused of malpractice" we would go through his website and change text from "Dr Bloblaw" to "The Daytona Beach plastic surgeon" where ever we could. Additionally, they requested that I hide "Dr Bloblaw malpractice" and similar terms in small white text all over every page and some other black hat SEO shit. I'm sure there was more to it, since I took 3 or 4 calls with them spread out over a month, but I can't remember more details.
I'm long gone from that company and I'm sure those techniques don't work anymore, but yeah, in one form or another this type of reputation management is probably as old as SEO.
(Names and locations are changed)
Which can be summarised as the "PR industry", and much of the history of SEO and overlaps with the thousands of agencies out there. Goes back to the earliest rings of blogspot spam promoting some dubious business or service. I think it was already a thing the very first time I became aware of SEO as something beyond just the local on page organisation of site, tags and such like. So probably mid 00's.
There have, of course, been no shortage of press stories about the tiny minority ethical side of this - allowing some crime victim to move beyond the story of their attack or similar.
The press don't - at least as far as I have seen - yet seem to connect any of the above with the relatively recent influence on elections, stories of fake news, or use by politicians themselves as reputation management (e.g. that Boris Johnson interview where he was randomly claiming out of nowhere, and thoroughly unbelievably, his hobby is making model busses out of cardboard boxes. Gets reported everywhere, the £350m promises on the side of the Brexit bus gets moved down a Google page or two).
There have, of course, been no shortage of press stories about the tiny minority ethical side of this - allowing some crime victim to move beyond the story of their attack or similar.
The press don't - at least as far as I have seen - yet seem to connect any of the above with the relatively recent influence on elections, stories of fake news, or use by politicians themselves as reputation management (e.g. that Boris Johnson interview where he was randomly claiming out of nowhere, and thoroughly unbelievably, his hobby is making model busses out of cardboard boxes. Gets reported everywhere, the £350m promises on the side of the Brexit bus gets moved down a Google page or two).
> Which can be summarised as the "PR industry"
There's a very good reason the person who came up with the term Public Relations did it to rebrand the techniques and methdology used for propaganda.[0]
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
There's a very good reason the person who came up with the term Public Relations did it to rebrand the techniques and methdology used for propaganda.[0]
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
This isn’t even anything new x2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations_campaigns_of_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations_campaigns_of_...
> This isn’t anything new
Yep. I first heard about “reputation” firms doing this in 2009.
Yep. I first heard about “reputation” firms doing this in 2009.
This has been going on at least hundred years, and likely 200.
This subject touches on a lot of things tangential to a lot of words like world wide problems. Many things wrong in the online work seem systemic and tend to magnify our IRL problems.
Is anyone out there creative enough to step outside the box enough to even envision a system that can support our current economic environment, let alone see a way to get this ship on that course before it's sunk?
Is anyone out there creative enough to step outside the box enough to even envision a system that can support our current economic environment, let alone see a way to get this ship on that course before it's sunk?
"Independent" news orgs do the same thing. Watch out for the next positive article about a person or organization and ask yourself if it was written by a journalist organisation seeking the truth or as a puff piece in collaboration with the subject. There is a pretty blurry line between news and advertising these days to a much greater extent than most realize.
Southpark has a pretty good episode on this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z696bTiP8Ro
This is so amazing. I love south park, thanks for sharing ;)
> Watch out for the next positive article about a person or organization
The only reason this heuristic works is because news companies have become so untrustworthy that when left to their own devices they are only capable of writing negative articles about people. They never take the initiative to report positive news when a person or organization merits it. Even when a person or organization deserves praise, the media finds a way to spin it into a "if it bleeds, it leads" story.
The only reason this heuristic works is because news companies have become so untrustworthy that when left to their own devices they are only capable of writing negative articles about people. They never take the initiative to report positive news when a person or organization merits it. Even when a person or organization deserves praise, the media finds a way to spin it into a "if it bleeds, it leads" story.
Almost every major media organization does this. For example, impeachment coverage was carried live, while the discussion of the FISA abuses was mostly ignored. If media orgs were “seeking the truth,” they wouldn’t be selectively covering hearings that boost their narrative but fail to tell the complete story. Another example: Buzzfeed “News” had one critical story on Obama out of 100 total stories. Even if you love Obama, suggesting that he was “good” 99 out of 100 times is pure propaganda. Selective editing and coverage decisions are far more sinister than reputation management firms.
By and large business magazines have always been nothing but puff pieces. Those cover-story interviews with execs are always puffery in the hope of getting "access" in future and of course advertising.
These fake sites simply cut out the middleman.
The Economist has been one of the rare exceptions, though it's not really a business magazine...and has a regular profile page that is indeed the same sort of puff piece.
These fake sites simply cut out the middleman.
The Economist has been one of the rare exceptions, though it's not really a business magazine...and has a regular profile page that is indeed the same sort of puff piece.
Forbes, in the days of Malcomb Forbes, Sr., wasn't. He was hated for it, and he didn't care. He was sued, and his attitude was "I'm a billionare, go ahead".
As a onetime subscriber in the 80s I strongly disagree (and I didn’t renew for that reason). I felt the articles were typically not hard hitting and when they were critical of someone it was either because they simply didn’t like that person or, more commonly, it felt fake, like the WWE fake wrestler feuds or “reality tv”.
At least that was my impression as a callow youth in my 20s trying to get a couple of startups off the ground.
Also the Forbes family empire was admitted to be not especially large as they themselves described it, though believed to be >$100M
At least that was my impression as a callow youth in my 20s trying to get a couple of startups off the ground.
Also the Forbes family empire was admitted to be not especially large as they themselves described it, though believed to be >$100M
The Economist manages to escape this because they don't do any journalism or interviews. They provide opinionated commentary on international affairs, peppered with quotes from reports and think tank policy people. And as a result, their analyses are often limited, and can mostly be summarized as "liberalizing the markets would have solved this".
Are you referring to the obituary?
No, I think the obituaries are pretty reasonable and aren’t always about nice people.
The business section often has a profile (complete with profile picture) of some worthy that always seems to be pretty positive.
The business section often has a profile (complete with profile picture) of some worthy that always seems to be pretty positive.
What’s so frustrating about this is that Status Labs will never be called out for this. And even if they do, they’d probably use their platform of fake news outlets to drown out criticism, because this is exactly what they do for a living.
Our ability to inform the public online is fundamentally broken, and here are these guys making a killing by literally lying to the world.
Our ability to inform the public online is fundamentally broken, and here are these guys making a killing by literally lying to the world.
A guy was pitching me his SEO services as being the best in the business. He offered me his business card but I said, don't worry, when I need an SEO guy I'll search google for one and you should be the first result!
"Our ability to inform the public online is fundamentally broken"
Is it worse than before or was it always broken?
Is it worse than before or was it always broken?
It can be both, but in the old world you couldn't just conjure up a whole newspaper with flattering content. The fact that costs have changed is significant in a qualitative way.
Airdropping news fliers for propaganda purposes was a thing, once.
These days it's carpet bombing black propaganda via all means online. If you control printed and/or TV news too, all the better.
These days it's carpet bombing black propaganda via all means online. If you control printed and/or TV news too, all the better.
Remember the Maine!
This is a very well understood and existing market for PR agencies utilizing blackhat SEO. Overrun legitimate but negative stories with shady backlinks to get Google to penalize them. Simultaneously create fake websites, awards, profiles, news etc and flood search results with more positive things. Most people I see selling this do so for 5k to 10k per month.
Yes, SEO is still big business, and it's big business because it's effective. For any term that has even minor commercial relevance, you've generally gotta dig into at least the 3rd or 4th page before you start to see real results.
Google has been successfully gamed essentially for its entire history. The fact that so many technical people believe the propaganda like "SEO doesn't work anymore" just shows how disconnected and gullible they are. And if technical people are naively Googling away, how much hope does that leave for your average citizen?
Google has been successfully gamed essentially for its entire history. The fact that so many technical people believe the propaganda like "SEO doesn't work anymore" just shows how disconnected and gullible they are. And if technical people are naively Googling away, how much hope does that leave for your average citizen?
I mean, why not? Free speech means unlimited freedom to lie, right? To do otherwise would be surrender to an arbiter of truth.
This is just how it is going to be now. Every search and every set of YouTube recommendations will contain a thousand lies and one truth, and it's your fault if you can't identify the true one.
This is just how it is going to be now. Every search and every set of YouTube recommendations will contain a thousand lies and one truth, and it's your fault if you can't identify the true one.
> Free speech means unlimited freedom to lie, right?
This has never been, and will never be true. Free speech has always had legal limitations. It’s illegal to defame someone, for example.
Who really wants to live in a world where it’s so much easier and effective to lie than to tell the truth? Where the burden of seeking the truth becomes finding a needle in a haystack, do you want to live in that world?
History has shown us when societies fail to recognize the truth, and it has only ever brought death and destruction.
If the freedom to spread lies far and wide without repercussions overpowers our society’s ability to function, we’re in for some deep trouble.
This has never been, and will never be true. Free speech has always had legal limitations. It’s illegal to defame someone, for example.
Who really wants to live in a world where it’s so much easier and effective to lie than to tell the truth? Where the burden of seeking the truth becomes finding a needle in a haystack, do you want to live in that world?
History has shown us when societies fail to recognize the truth, and it has only ever brought death and destruction.
If the freedom to spread lies far and wide without repercussions overpowers our society’s ability to function, we’re in for some deep trouble.
We are also experiencing a giant race to the lowest common denominator, fueled by social media. "Everyone lies, so what the hell".
The U.S. Government at the very top is infested now with habitual grifters and liars. Young people look at them, and go - it works for them, they are all rich.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/10/christianne-allen-g...
"Rudy's new 20 year-old spokeswoman hasn't finished college, pretended to be related to George Allen, and has given herself many titles that are not accurate. “Nobody can figure out who the eff she is or how she got in there,” a friend of Giuliani told me."
She is twenty.
The U.S. Government at the very top is infested now with habitual grifters and liars. Young people look at them, and go - it works for them, they are all rich.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/10/christianne-allen-g...
"Rudy's new 20 year-old spokeswoman hasn't finished college, pretended to be related to George Allen, and has given herself many titles that are not accurate. “Nobody can figure out who the eff she is or how she got in there,” a friend of Giuliani told me."
She is twenty.
>The U.S. Government at the very top is infested now with habitual grifters and liars.
When was this not the case?
When was this not the case?
I wouldn't describe either FDR or Eisenhower as grifters. Carter was very big on integrity. Difficult to see Obama as a grifter either, although his honesty has been somewhat compromised by the forever war.
A cursory google search revealed as the first result:
''FDR was a gifted and facile liar,''
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/13/books/manipulative-secret...
I would expect much of the same from a glance at any politician. Politics is a field that rewards deception.
The perverse incentives of democracy have been illustrated from Plato through to Hans Hermann Hoppe.
''FDR was a gifted and facile liar,''
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/13/books/manipulative-secret...
I would expect much of the same from a glance at any politician. Politics is a field that rewards deception.
The perverse incentives of democracy have been illustrated from Plato through to Hans Hermann Hoppe.
Sure, but it's done with some restraint and fear of consequences. With shame, if you will.
The new way is obvious, shameless, blatant, and unapologetic. "We run this bitch, what are YOU going to do about it". No?
I grew up in Ukraine in the most corrupt post-Soviet era. Even then corruption was done with finesse. A lush mansion is hidden from the view, and you really need to go looking for it.
Not the Steve Mnuchin level of "we are going to take a private jet to Fort Knox, watch the Solar eclipse on top of a pile of gold, and put it on Instagram" kind.
The new way is obvious, shameless, blatant, and unapologetic. "We run this bitch, what are YOU going to do about it". No?
I grew up in Ukraine in the most corrupt post-Soviet era. Even then corruption was done with finesse. A lush mansion is hidden from the view, and you really need to go looking for it.
Not the Steve Mnuchin level of "we are going to take a private jet to Fort Knox, watch the Solar eclipse on top of a pile of gold, and put it on Instagram" kind.
In fairness, previous generations of politicians didn't have Instagram. The history of Pulitzer and yellow journalism reveals an equally vapid culture.
From my view it is more of a wink into the camera. A whiff of self-irony and an acknowledgement of the farce. Shamelessly reveling in the spectacle while calling out the closeted prudes as hypocrites. Parodying stilted, cliched performances.
From my view it is more of a wink into the camera. A whiff of self-irony and an acknowledgement of the farce. Shamelessly reveling in the spectacle while calling out the closeted prudes as hypocrites. Parodying stilted, cliched performances.
That's a good point, but the increased visibility should act as a deterrent. That's why it's not OK for a President to have a sidepiece anymore, when back in the day it was a matter of course.
All of us are more aware of what comes up when someone googles us, that we will be judged based on what's out there.
Or perhaps it's just the money. One does not have to be a good citizen if you are loaded. Social contracts and norms are for losers. And, since Trump assembled the richest cabinet in U.S. history, it only makes sense.
All of us are more aware of what comes up when someone googles us, that we will be judged based on what's out there.
Or perhaps it's just the money. One does not have to be a good citizen if you are loaded. Social contracts and norms are for losers. And, since Trump assembled the richest cabinet in U.S. history, it only makes sense.
> Who really wants to live in a world where it’s so much easier and effective to lie than to tell the truth?
I don't think anyone wants that, but this has been the case since the invention of the printing press and probably longer. It also gets really tricky when what is a lie vs. what is truth is not obvious.
I don't think anyone wants that, but this has been the case since the invention of the printing press and probably longer. It also gets really tricky when what is a lie vs. what is truth is not obvious.
> I don't think anyone wants that
The group of people that is pushing the "fake news" line definitely wants that. It is absolutely dependent upon lying to maintain power.
The group of people that is pushing the "fake news" line definitely wants that. It is absolutely dependent upon lying to maintain power.
> I don't think anyone wants that
Someone is presumably making a handsome living by lying for the rich, so at least one person wants this. And there are people paying for this service, so clearly there are people who want to live in this kind of world.
It doesn't matter that this problem has existed forever. So has murder. Are you arguing that we shouldn't care about people murdering each other because it's a timeless problem? I assume no.
It's not tricky at all when someone knowingly, intentionally pushes fake content at scale to sway public opinion. That's an unconscionable act with very clear and dark intentions. That shouldn't be "tricky" to assess, because we know very clearly that what they are doing is absolutely, unequivocally, wrong.
Someone is presumably making a handsome living by lying for the rich, so at least one person wants this. And there are people paying for this service, so clearly there are people who want to live in this kind of world.
It doesn't matter that this problem has existed forever. So has murder. Are you arguing that we shouldn't care about people murdering each other because it's a timeless problem? I assume no.
It's not tricky at all when someone knowingly, intentionally pushes fake content at scale to sway public opinion. That's an unconscionable act with very clear and dark intentions. That shouldn't be "tricky" to assess, because we know very clearly that what they are doing is absolutely, unequivocally, wrong.
How about when news organizations intentionally leave out details to hint a particular theme that itself is a lie? For example, only reporting arguments from one side of a trial.
Lies of omission by the press doesn't get the attention it deserves. You can't trust journalists to report on bad behavior in their own industry.
I believe defamation is a civil matter, not a criminal one.
This depends entirely on jurisdiction, and even in the US (where there are no criminal defamation laws at the federal level) varies from state to state.
Much of Europe still have criminal defamation laws on the books, for example.
Much of Europe still have criminal defamation laws on the books, for example.
Indeed there are many many ways in which much of Europe doesn't really respect the ideals of free speech. This is but one example.
> It’s illegal to defame someone, for example.
In most of the USA, this simply isn’t accurate.
In most of the USA, this simply isn’t accurate.
Taking your hyperbole at face value for a moment, at least whoever put the true item in there will be allowed to do so, instead of needing approval.
Even well-meaning folk can 'lie' when they repeat something demonstrably false that was said by someone that they trust.
People who are smart in some ways can get fished-in by scams & frauds if they don't have the street-smarts to 'smell a rat'.
'How it is going to be' is the way it has always been. Lots of stuff happened in US history that most people alive at the time were unaware of. Those in power counted on it.
We now have the means to look into statements -much- more deeply -and- quickly than anyone 30 years ago could have done ... if we know where to look. We have the tools, if we choose to use them. If not, then we'll live like the people of the past did ... pushed and shoved around by politics, religion, rumor, time.
People who are smart in some ways can get fished-in by scams & frauds if they don't have the street-smarts to 'smell a rat'.
'How it is going to be' is the way it has always been. Lots of stuff happened in US history that most people alive at the time were unaware of. Those in power counted on it.
We now have the means to look into statements -much- more deeply -and- quickly than anyone 30 years ago could have done ... if we know where to look. We have the tools, if we choose to use them. If not, then we'll live like the people of the past did ... pushed and shoved around by politics, religion, rumor, time.
The Texas GOP is planning to do similar in 2020 [1]. It’s also happening in small towns across the country [2].
[1] https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/11/26/republic...
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/19/locality-lab...
[1] https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/11/26/republic...
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/19/locality-lab...
> So there's a startup right here in the US doing exactly what we accused a foreign government of doing
Both are scummy, but there's no clear law against this IF you're not a foreign agent. Surely it's believable that the government might want to forbid foreign operatives from doing things Americans are allowed to do. A trivial example is voting.
Both are scummy, but there's no clear law against this IF you're not a foreign agent. Surely it's believable that the government might want to forbid foreign operatives from doing things Americans are allowed to do. A trivial example is voting.
> So there's a startup right here in the US doing exactly what we accused a foreign government of doing during the 2016 election.
The core accusation with 2016 isn't "fake news", it's that a foreign intelligence service deliberately targetted a senior campaign staffer, stole his email, and selectively leaked it at the direction of the opposing US campaign.
The fake news stuff was bad too, but that's not generally considered criminal. The remedy to that was universally considered to be better gatekeeping on the part of the content intermediates (Facebook in that case, Google here).
The core accusation with 2016 isn't "fake news", it's that a foreign intelligence service deliberately targetted a senior campaign staffer, stole his email, and selectively leaked it at the direction of the opposing US campaign.
The fake news stuff was bad too, but that's not generally considered criminal. The remedy to that was universally considered to be better gatekeeping on the part of the content intermediates (Facebook in that case, Google here).
>So there's a startup right here in the US doing exactly what we accused a foreign government of doing during the 2016 election.
When it's done by a foreign government, it's an act of aggression. When it's done internally, it's an expression of camping financing.
Like brain cancer vs skin cancer I suppose.
When it's done by a foreign government, it's an act of aggression. When it's done internally, it's an expression of camping financing.
Like brain cancer vs skin cancer I suppose.
Not only that, but there's a startup doing it openly and being celebrated for it in 2020: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-11-25/acronym-s...
"So there's a startup right here in the US doing exactly what we accused a foreign government of doing during the 2016 election"
Is this an equivocation?
One are tiny, marginally impactful capitalist firms run by private individuals. The other are enormous nation-states that can wield the power of government -- and literal control over life or death -- to influence. Acting surprised as if this = that is specious and not useful.
Is this an equivocation?
One are tiny, marginally impactful capitalist firms run by private individuals. The other are enormous nation-states that can wield the power of government -- and literal control over life or death -- to influence. Acting surprised as if this = that is specious and not useful.
lol this is how its always been
We only investigated it this time due to cold war sentiments and weaponizing an obviously compromised candidate for the highest position in the land
Any other combination of this is not newsworthy, such as a PR company that happens to be in Portugal, or Rhode Island
We only investigated it this time due to cold war sentiments and weaponizing an obviously compromised candidate for the highest position in the land
Any other combination of this is not newsworthy, such as a PR company that happens to be in Portugal, or Rhode Island
>This is unbelievable, and yet completely believable at the same time.
That's why all the squawking about "The Russians! The Russians!" is so hilarious.
The kind of work Cambridge Analytica and these boiler rooms in Russian are doing isn't very sophisticated, and certainly doesn't require the backing of a foreign State. A couple of savvy tech people can (and do) inflict the same pain for reasonable sums of money.
That's why all the squawking about "The Russians! The Russians!" is so hilarious.
The kind of work Cambridge Analytica and these boiler rooms in Russian are doing isn't very sophisticated, and certainly doesn't require the backing of a foreign State. A couple of savvy tech people can (and do) inflict the same pain for reasonable sums of money.
Russian military intelligence broke into DNC servers, stole emails, then gave them to a fake media cutout (wikileaks) to present in the most damaging way possible.
So no, states are getting into this game.
So no, states are getting into this game.
Insofar as "Russian military intelligence" is Seth Rich and "fake media cutout" is an independent publisher not beholden to the political interests that prevail upon large American media companies, then sure.
You can dislike Trump all you want, but invoking the Russian boogeyman and smearing honest people like Assange is pretty low. The fact that political parties and major media outlets feel obliged to hide behind such transparently flimsy excuses is commentary on both how far the moral standard has fallen and the empty desperation of our cultural power brokers.
You can dislike Trump all you want, but invoking the Russian boogeyman and smearing honest people like Assange is pretty low. The fact that political parties and major media outlets feel obliged to hide behind such transparently flimsy excuses is commentary on both how far the moral standard has fallen and the empty desperation of our cultural power brokers.
Comments like this make me lose faith in humanity. You don't seem like a stupid person, but are willing to believe in an unbelievably complex cover-up that would require hundreds of career public servants to lie for some unknown benefit, as opposed to the obvious scenario: Russia doesn't give the slightest damn about meddling in elections. They're willing to murder people with exotic poisons on foreign soil on a regular basis, why would election meddling be any different?
I'm not sure what you mean because I didn't say anything about a "complex cover-up", and I'm certain that Russia (and most other states, including America) is continuously running operations to sway things in their favor all over the world -- that's what spies and intelligence agencies do.
But I don't see how that's relevant here. Seth Rich provided the emails to Wikileaks and Assange is nobody's puppet, and Wikileaks definitely does not deserve to be called a "fake media cutout". Trump won the election because he appealed to a large number of Americans who voted for him because they thought he was the better candidate. Everything else is denial and excuse-making. Who said anything about a conspiracy requiring the coordination of "hundreds of career public servants"?
But I don't see how that's relevant here. Seth Rich provided the emails to Wikileaks and Assange is nobody's puppet, and Wikileaks definitely does not deserve to be called a "fake media cutout". Trump won the election because he appealed to a large number of Americans who voted for him because they thought he was the better candidate. Everything else is denial and excuse-making. Who said anything about a conspiracy requiring the coordination of "hundreds of career public servants"?
> Seth Rich provided the emails to Wikileaks
> You don't seem like a stupid person
Don't give him that. He believes things with no evidence for personal reasons, that's what stupid people do.
> You don't seem like a stupid person
Don't give him that. He believes things with no evidence for personal reasons, that's what stupid people do.
I'd say the publisher explicitly naming the deceased in the context of a potential source counts as some evidence, at least.
If you believe that Assange is a Russian agent, then sure, maybe it's not slam dunk, and it's just a very convenient situation for him that this unfortunate DNC staffer was gunned down under suspicious circumstances and now he can tell everyone that was the source and Rich isn't alive to deny it.
But it's not "no evidence" nor is it "personal reasons". If anything, the instantaneous flip against Wikileaks and Assange after they published documents implicating the establishment's favored candidate has a much more arbitrary feel.
If you believe that Assange is a Russian agent, then sure, maybe it's not slam dunk, and it's just a very convenient situation for him that this unfortunate DNC staffer was gunned down under suspicious circumstances and now he can tell everyone that was the source and Rich isn't alive to deny it.
But it's not "no evidence" nor is it "personal reasons". If anything, the instantaneous flip against Wikileaks and Assange after they published documents implicating the establishment's favored candidate has a much more arbitrary feel.
> If you believe that Assange is a Russian agent, then sure, maybe it's not slam dunk
He had a TV show on the Russian state propaganda network where he tore into Hillary Clinton all day. How much more gift-wrapped would you like his intentions to be?
> this unfortunate DNC staffer was gunned down under suspicious circumstances
Not only bullshit, but harmful, debunked bullshit. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/were-seth-richs-pare...
> I'd say the publisher explicitly naming the deceased in the context of a potential source counts as some evidence, at least.
See, no it doesn't. It proves absolutely nothing. They can claim whatever they want as a way of distracting from their partnership with the GRU. And they know people like you will accept it as long as it fits their narrative. No evidence needed, hardly any effort either. Just mention his name on Fox News and run with it.
I don't care if you can code, only people lacking in critical thought capacity (being diplomatic) believe conspiracy theories with no proof other than it fits their worldview.
He had a TV show on the Russian state propaganda network where he tore into Hillary Clinton all day. How much more gift-wrapped would you like his intentions to be?
> this unfortunate DNC staffer was gunned down under suspicious circumstances
Not only bullshit, but harmful, debunked bullshit. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/were-seth-richs-pare...
> I'd say the publisher explicitly naming the deceased in the context of a potential source counts as some evidence, at least.
See, no it doesn't. It proves absolutely nothing. They can claim whatever they want as a way of distracting from their partnership with the GRU. And they know people like you will accept it as long as it fits their narrative. No evidence needed, hardly any effort either. Just mention his name on Fox News and run with it.
I don't care if you can code, only people lacking in critical thought capacity (being diplomatic) believe conspiracy theories with no proof other than it fits their worldview.
> Not only bullshit, but harmful, debunked bullshit.
Debunked in the opinion section? He was gunned down under suspicious circumstances. It's not less suspicious if you believe a gangster did it rather than a hired assassin, and regardless, giving Assange documents doesn't cast a magical force field protecting one from street robberies.
Did Russians hack the DNC? Probably -- Russian botnets attempt to brute-force basically every internet-exposed endpoint around the clock, just check your logs. It's neither here nor there.
>He had a TV show on the Russian state propaganda network where he tore into Hillary Clinton all day. How much more gift-wrapped would you like his intentions to be?
>I don't care if you can code, only people lacking in critical thought capacity (being diplomatic) believe conspiracy theories with no proof other than it fits their worldview.
Right, because "Assange is a Russian operative" is apparently not a conspiracy theory, because allowing RT to broadcast your TV series is apparently all the proof we need. Larry King, Jesse Ventura, and the late Ed Schultz are therefore also Putin lackeys, because there's no other explanation for cooperating with a television network that claims penetration into 700M households worldwide, just like there's no reason to ever have any business dealings or attend any meetings in a country that hosts two of the world's largest cities (Moscow home to 12M and St. Petersburg home to 6M). True Americans work only with local network affiliates and never venture outside of their small towns.
Debunked in the opinion section? He was gunned down under suspicious circumstances. It's not less suspicious if you believe a gangster did it rather than a hired assassin, and regardless, giving Assange documents doesn't cast a magical force field protecting one from street robberies.
Did Russians hack the DNC? Probably -- Russian botnets attempt to brute-force basically every internet-exposed endpoint around the clock, just check your logs. It's neither here nor there.
>He had a TV show on the Russian state propaganda network where he tore into Hillary Clinton all day. How much more gift-wrapped would you like his intentions to be?
>I don't care if you can code, only people lacking in critical thought capacity (being diplomatic) believe conspiracy theories with no proof other than it fits their worldview.
Right, because "Assange is a Russian operative" is apparently not a conspiracy theory, because allowing RT to broadcast your TV series is apparently all the proof we need. Larry King, Jesse Ventura, and the late Ed Schultz are therefore also Putin lackeys, because there's no other explanation for cooperating with a television network that claims penetration into 700M households worldwide, just like there's no reason to ever have any business dealings or attend any meetings in a country that hosts two of the world's largest cities (Moscow home to 12M and St. Petersburg home to 6M). True Americans work only with local network affiliates and never venture outside of their small towns.
If you actually read the link I gave you, it's the murder victims parents saying there was no suspicious circumstance in their son's murder, and bad actors are using it for their own destructive political narratives.
Like you.
This is why you don't engage conspiracy theorists even causally. If you don't insist that all opinions are evidence-based, literally anything can be true and anything can be false. The car that backfired outside my flat is a gunshot from a deep-state operative and here we go i'm blogging.
> Did Russians hack the DNC? Probably
Perfect example. "Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. We can never know." Yes we can. Unless we want to believe something else, then all it takes is a conspiracy theory about a murdered DNC staffer with no evidence and we have confirmation of what we believed all along. "Who is to say i'm wrong?" Right?
This is a never-ending rabbit-hole of shit that you apparently love to be in, I don't.
America is far from perfect, there is much to criticize of it, but they aren't waging an all-out war on objective reality to keep populations confused and infighting so a corrupt few and keep power. That's Russia. That's increasingly China. And you are gladly helping in their efforts, whether you realize it or not.
Like you.
This is why you don't engage conspiracy theorists even causally. If you don't insist that all opinions are evidence-based, literally anything can be true and anything can be false. The car that backfired outside my flat is a gunshot from a deep-state operative and here we go i'm blogging.
> Did Russians hack the DNC? Probably
Perfect example. "Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. We can never know." Yes we can. Unless we want to believe something else, then all it takes is a conspiracy theory about a murdered DNC staffer with no evidence and we have confirmation of what we believed all along. "Who is to say i'm wrong?" Right?
This is a never-ending rabbit-hole of shit that you apparently love to be in, I don't.
America is far from perfect, there is much to criticize of it, but they aren't waging an all-out war on objective reality to keep populations confused and infighting so a corrupt few and keep power. That's Russia. That's increasingly China. And you are gladly helping in their efforts, whether you realize it or not.
What do you think of his parents saying he was excited to be working for the Clinton campaign? That there was no suspicious anything found on any of his documents? That he didn't even have access to any of the emails?
They gave a mountain of evidence why his death has been turned into a political conspiracy theory. There is next to no evidence in favor of your theory. The idea that Assange's comments are in favor of it is incredibly weak - he was receiving additional information after Seth Rich was already dead.
They gave a mountain of evidence why his death has been turned into a political conspiracy theory. There is next to no evidence in favor of your theory. The idea that Assange's comments are in favor of it is incredibly weak - he was receiving additional information after Seth Rich was already dead.
First, it's tragic and sad that Seth Rich's parents needed to publish an op-ed to discourage "reporters" from calling incessantly for anything, let alone harassing them over whether they think he may've sent a copy of some emails to someone. I have kids and if one of them was killed on the street, the only emails I'd care about would be those that implicate their killer.
But that's how I read that article -- a plea to stop harassing them, and their official on-the-record statement which, yes, indicates they don't believe he would've been a source, so that people will reference that instead of continuing to harass them.
As for "a mountain of evidence", the only substantive statement as to whether or not Rich actually provided the mails is that investigators apparently told them that they didn't find any evidence of communication with Wikileaks or Assange on any of his computers, but of course, if someone is providing documents to Wikileaks, the fact that they didn't leave evidence of that sitting around on their known workstations isn't really a shocker (nor would it be a shocker if there was evidence on his known workstations and DC police just don't know how to do computer forensics).
I don't think his parents are really equipped to understand whether or not he would've had access to emails -- as most of us here know, most moderately-capable technical people can access virtually anything in a company's network. Remember that Podesta's Twitter was "hacked" during this whole affair because his password was trivially easy to guess; it's not like we're dealing with the NSA here (though note, Snowden was still able to exfiltrate the toppest-secret of the top-secret documents from there).
I'm not really sure what you're looking for, but I guess I can backtrack if it'll make you feel better: it's entirely possible that Seth Rich wasn't the source of the emails and it's probably not prudent to say "Seth Rich provided the emails". I take back the definitive tone and will refrain from such certitude it in the future. The emails definitely could've come from somewhere else, possibly even actual Russian intelligence; ultimately, the source doesn't matter because nobody questions the authenticity of the documents.
That said, it's entirely possible that Rich was a source and that Assange wasn't just heartlessly exploiting a convenient homicide. Personally, I put a lot more trust in Wikileaks and Assange particularly, whose hacker ethos is well-known and lifelong, has a long track record of verified and reliable journalism, and publicly suffered for the courage of his convictions by living in exile than I put in career politicians and media barons who are trying to distract from their ultra-embarrassing performances throughout the 2016 election cycle.
The establishment was so certain that Trump would be crushed that they issued "Madam President" commemorative editions days ahead of the election. We can't pretend like they're not going to try to excuse that with something, no matter how ridiculous they have to get.
No coverup or wide-ranging conspiracy is necessary -- just a handful of powerful people implicitly colluding to conjure a scapegoat out of widespread xenophobia and ignorance, which, I think we'd all agree, is nothing new when it comes to the worlds of politics and mass media.
But that's how I read that article -- a plea to stop harassing them, and their official on-the-record statement which, yes, indicates they don't believe he would've been a source, so that people will reference that instead of continuing to harass them.
As for "a mountain of evidence", the only substantive statement as to whether or not Rich actually provided the mails is that investigators apparently told them that they didn't find any evidence of communication with Wikileaks or Assange on any of his computers, but of course, if someone is providing documents to Wikileaks, the fact that they didn't leave evidence of that sitting around on their known workstations isn't really a shocker (nor would it be a shocker if there was evidence on his known workstations and DC police just don't know how to do computer forensics).
I don't think his parents are really equipped to understand whether or not he would've had access to emails -- as most of us here know, most moderately-capable technical people can access virtually anything in a company's network. Remember that Podesta's Twitter was "hacked" during this whole affair because his password was trivially easy to guess; it's not like we're dealing with the NSA here (though note, Snowden was still able to exfiltrate the toppest-secret of the top-secret documents from there).
I'm not really sure what you're looking for, but I guess I can backtrack if it'll make you feel better: it's entirely possible that Seth Rich wasn't the source of the emails and it's probably not prudent to say "Seth Rich provided the emails". I take back the definitive tone and will refrain from such certitude it in the future. The emails definitely could've come from somewhere else, possibly even actual Russian intelligence; ultimately, the source doesn't matter because nobody questions the authenticity of the documents.
That said, it's entirely possible that Rich was a source and that Assange wasn't just heartlessly exploiting a convenient homicide. Personally, I put a lot more trust in Wikileaks and Assange particularly, whose hacker ethos is well-known and lifelong, has a long track record of verified and reliable journalism, and publicly suffered for the courage of his convictions by living in exile than I put in career politicians and media barons who are trying to distract from their ultra-embarrassing performances throughout the 2016 election cycle.
The establishment was so certain that Trump would be crushed that they issued "Madam President" commemorative editions days ahead of the election. We can't pretend like they're not going to try to excuse that with something, no matter how ridiculous they have to get.
No coverup or wide-ranging conspiracy is necessary -- just a handful of powerful people implicitly colluding to conjure a scapegoat out of widespread xenophobia and ignorance, which, I think we'd all agree, is nothing new when it comes to the worlds of politics and mass media.
> Mr. Gottlieb said in an interview with the Journal that he found his press coverage unfair and wanted to fight back.
Favorable opinions and professional character praises are not the same as fake news as in conspiracy theories and outright lies. Really, this is just criticizing people for acting in their own rational self-interest to protect their reputation.
Idk, I guess you could make the valid criticism that this is bad practice because this is a privilege only the wealthy and influential have, but I'd argue that is (in most instances) the only class of people who likely have to deal with a barrage of negative news coverage to begin with.
Which begs the question: do wealthy and influential people have the capacity to reform their behavior, and are we willing to let people make mistakes and try again in life? If the answer is yes, then clearly they need some recourse against the astronomical influence of online search results and social media.
Wish the masses were just as open to forgiving people as they are for grabbing the pitchforks and torches.
Favorable opinions and professional character praises are not the same as fake news as in conspiracy theories and outright lies. Really, this is just criticizing people for acting in their own rational self-interest to protect their reputation.
Idk, I guess you could make the valid criticism that this is bad practice because this is a privilege only the wealthy and influential have, but I'd argue that is (in most instances) the only class of people who likely have to deal with a barrage of negative news coverage to begin with.
Which begs the question: do wealthy and influential people have the capacity to reform their behavior, and are we willing to let people make mistakes and try again in life? If the answer is yes, then clearly they need some recourse against the astronomical influence of online search results and social media.
Wish the masses were just as open to forgiving people as they are for grabbing the pitchforks and torches.
Status Labs posted content on this site to improve the profile of their client:
http://medicaldailytimes.com/
That site is in no way legitimate in its construction or messaging. It makes no mention that it's run by Status Labs, or NOT run by a legitimate medical reporting outlet. Why obfuscate the true governance of such an online property? Why are there zero contributors listed in the masthead or contributors page?
How on earth do you look at this website and think "yeah, they're just trying to help the defenseless welathy"?
http://medicaldailytimes.com/
That site is in no way legitimate in its construction or messaging. It makes no mention that it's run by Status Labs, or NOT run by a legitimate medical reporting outlet. Why obfuscate the true governance of such an online property? Why are there zero contributors listed in the masthead or contributors page?
How on earth do you look at this website and think "yeah, they're just trying to help the defenseless welathy"?
> How on earth do you look at this website and think "yeah, they're just trying to help the defenseless wealthy"?
That's a bit of a straw man. 1) I don't think that, 2) I never said they were defenseless. Clearly they are capable of defending themselves.
My entire point is that people, all people, outside of obvious outliers like people who commit extreme violence, are capable of changing their behavior for the better and should have the opportunity for a second chance, and since socially there really isn't one, I understand why they take these measures.
That's a bit of a straw man. 1) I don't think that, 2) I never said they were defenseless. Clearly they are capable of defending themselves.
My entire point is that people, all people, outside of obvious outliers like people who commit extreme violence, are capable of changing their behavior for the better and should have the opportunity for a second chance, and since socially there really isn't one, I understand why they take these measures.
Except this further increases our class divide. The rich can bury any and all negative coverage by spending loads of money creating fake websites and fake news. If you get arrested (not even found guilty, just arrested!) and your mugshot is plastered all over the Internet whenever someone searches your name, can you afford to do the same? Can all people?
That's why I said in most instances, of course there are instances where people without influence have their lives destroyed by negative news coverage. Wouldn't it be great if there was a non-profit organization that operated like Status Labs with a mission like the Innocence Project or even helped ex-cons clean up their reputation upon re-entry into society?
> The rich can bury any and all negative coverage by spending loads of money creating fake websites and fake news.
Ah, that's why nobody has negative views of anyone rich.
Ah, that's why nobody has negative views of anyone rich.
I have been hearing lots of positive reviews, even from comment boards themselves. It seems like there are some firms that are too good at it. I think the more positive things I end up hearing about someone rich, the worse feeling I get of them, as if they overspent.. the dirtier you are, the more scrubbing you do.
> Really, this is just criticizing people for acting in their own rational self-interest to protect their reputation.
Yes but normally we limit people's self-interest when it harms other people, and it's totally legit to limit such behaviours by law. This is no different from why you can't just take people's stuff from their house. It's in your interest but not theirs.
Specifically, this harms other people who are interested in doing due diligence in Gottlieb. They are less likely to hear about his failed ventures, which is something people care about.
Yes but normally we limit people's self-interest when it harms other people, and it's totally legit to limit such behaviours by law. This is no different from why you can't just take people's stuff from their house. It's in your interest but not theirs.
Specifically, this harms other people who are interested in doing due diligence in Gottlieb. They are less likely to hear about his failed ventures, which is something people care about.
Rich and powerful people depend on us forgetting their crimes in order to continue to predate us. The moral rules are a bit different for the victims and the powerless.
“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” — Milan Kundera
“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” — Milan Kundera
> but I'd argue that is (in most instances) the only class of people who likely have to deal with a barrage of negative news coverage to begin with.
They experience a barrage of negative press because they deserve it. The ultra-wealthy of the world (I'm not talking SV tech salaries, those are practically working class in comparison) are the ones doing the majority of harm to this pale blue dot we all have to live on. Climate catastrophe is well on its way to undermining society, and it could have easily been addressed decades ago if the ultra-wealthy weren't Biblical levels of greedy.
They experience a barrage of negative press because they deserve it. The ultra-wealthy of the world (I'm not talking SV tech salaries, those are practically working class in comparison) are the ones doing the majority of harm to this pale blue dot we all have to live on. Climate catastrophe is well on its way to undermining society, and it could have easily been addressed decades ago if the ultra-wealthy weren't Biblical levels of greedy.
> They experience a barrage of negative press because they deserve it.
Ah, how could I forget, humans are one-dimensional cartoon characters and moral complexity is tossed out the window the moment you own a certain amount of property.
Ah, how could I forget, humans are one-dimensional cartoon characters and moral complexity is tossed out the window the moment you own a certain amount of property.
I have no idea how you would become that rich without awful exploitation of consumers or workers.
You'll find lots of "how they did it" in the biography/business section of the library/bookstore.
Great idea + great execution. Lots of people have made impressive fortunes from widely used everyday things like food packaging (eg Tetra Pak), ballpoint pens (Biro) or escalators (Kone).
This ignores that in order to become rich, you must be paid more money than you can generate with your own labor. You must have your workers make something for cheaper than you sell it for and take the excess and give it to yourself. This is business, and there is literally no way to become wealthy without severe exploitation.
Some exceptions: the lottery (which abuses the desperate), inheritance (which has no meritorious justification)
Some exceptions: the lottery (which abuses the desperate), inheritance (which has no meritorious justification)
That's a pretty reductionist view of wealth creation and capitalism.
I hope the inherent irony of making that statement to an audience of people united by a common interest in technological progress, entrepreneurship, and startups (on a forum maintained by the world's most recognized startup accelerator) isn't lost on you.
I hope the inherent irony of making that statement to an audience of people united by a common interest in technological progress, entrepreneurship, and startups (on a forum maintained by the world's most recognized startup accelerator) isn't lost on you.
Boris Johnson's self-serve efforts are pretty interesting: https://twitter.com/genmon/status/1169719026060320768
I worked at a startup in 2007 that did this. I didn't work on this product, but as far as I know, no "fake news" was ever posted. True stories and PR stuff was put out. The goal was to generate more "noise" then a bad article would and they would just disapear. Basically, standard SEO stuff everyone does.
Not too different from a rich person hiring people to say flattering things in the press or basically paying journalists or subsidizing their access to favorable events to get positive coverage. Well, maybe amplified a bit more by the internet.
Well, here's the broader question: why can't you, as an individual, opt out of showing up in Google search results altogether?
Why should you be able to?
A court may grant an injunction preventing publication of certain facts or identifying you in proceedings, but that's specific, why should it be possible to opt out of ever appearing?
And where would it end, because there's no reason for that not to be everyone's default position, but then if you run some business such that you need the exposure, you're going to want 'business-only' results.
Or do you mean that news would be allowed, it just wouldn't appear in search results? How would I find an article I recalled and wanted to revisit?
A court may grant an injunction preventing publication of certain facts or identifying you in proceedings, but that's specific, why should it be possible to opt out of ever appearing?
And where would it end, because there's no reason for that not to be everyone's default position, but then if you run some business such that you need the exposure, you're going to want 'business-only' results.
Or do you mean that news would be allowed, it just wouldn't appear in search results? How would I find an article I recalled and wanted to revisit?
Another trick is using secondary meaning for words in your reputation management posts. So, if you were arrested, you post something like "John Doe Reviews TV Show Arrested Development"
Then, backlinks, and it ranks well for "John Doe Arrest".
Then, backlinks, and it ranks well for "John Doe Arrest".
I worked at a company that did this about ten years ago. This was the only thing in the entire playbook. They also wanted to create an alternative to the current FICO score based on their data, presumably a score that could easily be influenced and increased by paying more money. Nowadays, the business is very pedestrian. Half the Internet is posting lies and bullshit online these days. These guys have just been doing it longer and for more money than most.
In addition to the many pre-Web / pre-Internet variants of this, there is the established Web history of firms such as Reputation.com (previously: ReptuationDefender):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation.com
Same thing for Magic Leap. The billions of dollars in investment may not have given them the device they wanted, but it gave them the ability to bury all negative news.
For the longest time, it was impossible to find criticism that I had already read about the company. Try to look for the golem on google.
For the longest time, it was impossible to find criticism that I had already read about the company. Try to look for the golem on google.
Heh, this article is 15 years late...
Wait, how is this bad?
[deleted]
I also got a broader message from this: there is a whole industry of services aimed at only the wealthiest 1%, and you don't hear about it. We're starting to live in a new class society, and for now the new nobility wants to stay out of view.
What makes you think this is new?
I'd be curious to see a list of them!
I know some people who worked on building bespoke software/automation systems for the homes of the ultra rich.
There are of course family office wealth management firms, know a few people there too. Basically if you have >$10bb (min threshold might be less, but their clients are in this range) you might just make your own wealth management firm where everyone is 100% focused on your stuff only.
A lot of the services only for the ultra rich are kind of boring though, boiling down to running large personnel teams for specialized tasks. Like chefs/catering, cleaning and groundskeeping, transportation.
There are of course family office wealth management firms, know a few people there too. Basically if you have >$10bb (min threshold might be less, but their clients are in this range) you might just make your own wealth management firm where everyone is 100% focused on your stuff only.
A lot of the services only for the ultra rich are kind of boring though, boiling down to running large personnel teams for specialized tasks. Like chefs/catering, cleaning and groundskeeping, transportation.
To add at least some substance, a big one is how you go about buying extreme luxury goods. If you want a private jet, million dollar car, yacht, down to bespoke ultra high end watches, suits, etc. you schedule an appointment and get vetted before you even walk in the door. It's not a showroom affair where you just walk in and buy something.
I'm young and don't make a huge amount of money but I'm a racing crew for a few yachts competitively so I'm exposed to and worked directly with some people with net worth's anywhere from a few million to a few hundred million.
The reality is that happens with dollar amounts even less than what you'd think. If you want to go buy a used $100,000 fishing boat. Nothing crazy, definitely not a yacht, the salesperson is likely going to run a background and credit check on you before scheduling a test drive or tour.
It saves everybody time and prevents those who are unable to even afford the fuel on the thing from wasting the salesperson's time or clogging up a showroom.
Even the realtor I used to find my $1XXX/month apartment had me consent to run a soft credit check before she would schedule tours with any of the higher-end buildings within my price range.
The reality is that happens with dollar amounts even less than what you'd think. If you want to go buy a used $100,000 fishing boat. Nothing crazy, definitely not a yacht, the salesperson is likely going to run a background and credit check on you before scheduling a test drive or tour.
It saves everybody time and prevents those who are unable to even afford the fuel on the thing from wasting the salesperson's time or clogging up a showroom.
Even the realtor I used to find my $1XXX/month apartment had me consent to run a soft credit check before she would schedule tours with any of the higher-end buildings within my price range.
FT "How to spend it" magazine. The economist has something similar.
It seems like a stretch to say nobody ever hears about PR.
Do you mean "anal bleaching service" has both a straightforward literal meaning, as well as a figurative meaning of whitewashing assholes?
I'm not surprised. With the cancer that is SEO, removal of advanced search features, and mandatory and aggressive fuzzy matching, Google search has been increasingly broken for years. It is technical-user hostile and arguably even average user hostile at this point.
Today I switched back to ddg after not using it for months, hopefully it's more mature now. This way at least I'm less likely to be tracked. I was tolerant of the privacy issues when the search results were good, because the power behind Google really is phenomenal, they had at one point achieved a truly marvelous technical feat. But now scrolling through two pages of ads on mobile only to find crappy matches from conceptually different synonyms is simply intolerable. I imagine they're using some sort of transformer/encoder and clearly the difficult problem of disambiguation is still not quite solved. We're going to come up on a similar problem soon at the startup I work for, but our domain is limited so it should be easier to constrain, but I digress...
It's a shame to watch Google search gradually ruined by revenue driven features.
Today I switched back to ddg after not using it for months, hopefully it's more mature now. This way at least I'm less likely to be tracked. I was tolerant of the privacy issues when the search results were good, because the power behind Google really is phenomenal, they had at one point achieved a truly marvelous technical feat. But now scrolling through two pages of ads on mobile only to find crappy matches from conceptually different synonyms is simply intolerable. I imagine they're using some sort of transformer/encoder and clearly the difficult problem of disambiguation is still not quite solved. We're going to come up on a similar problem soon at the startup I work for, but our domain is limited so it should be easier to constrain, but I digress...
It's a shame to watch Google search gradually ruined by revenue driven features.
Nothing "1%" about this, it's basic business PR.
I'm not saying that these companies should exist for the example in the article, a high profile business person that failed miserably and tried to do the same thing a second time, yes it is just downright wrong he has a bunch of apparently fake PR about him claiming he's great and a genius and give him your money.
However, there are valid use cases for such a service. There are things you and I might say or do in haste that quickly get forgotten and are never even seen by most of the population but...
The "1%" are in the spotlight, they can't go an ice cream cone without articles about their ice cream appearing online [1].
What if a high profile individual is falsely accused of rape, or of fathering a child, and it turns out it was a false accusation. Those dozens or hundreds of articles/tweets/videos aren't going to go away. It will quietly be announced by a handful of places "so and so was cleared, person was lying" and for months or decades those accusation articles are going to stay high on search results.
If John Smith gets a DUI, unless he did a bunch of property damage or killed someone in the process, an article isn't going to be written. If a billionaire does it [2] articles get written.
If a billionaire calls someone a pedo in a heated exchange, articles are written about it [3]. If Jane Doe calls someone a pedo (or worse) on twitter, one of her 13 followers might favorite the tweet, if another human being even reads it.
I imagine a significant percentage of people using these services aren't trying to defraud people, but simply trying to hide something embarrassing that has been preserved digitally, widely, that John and Joan Public simply never have to worry about. (nipple slip, porn tape, telling someone to eff off when they're having a bad day, tweeting something in haste like calling someone a creepy pedo, etc).
What if someone was formerly a neo-nazi, and they've spent the past decade fighting against hate (several of these types exist [4]) and living a completely different life? Should they not be allowed to bury their past and be judged on their current works instead of the foolish things they did in their youth?
[1] https://time.com/2982204/paul-mccartney-warren-buffett-selfi...
[2] https://money.com/a-billionaire-22-year-old-was-fined-30000-...
[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50695593
[4] https://www.npr.org/2018/01/18/578745514/a-former-neo-nazi-e...
However, there are valid use cases for such a service. There are things you and I might say or do in haste that quickly get forgotten and are never even seen by most of the population but...
The "1%" are in the spotlight, they can't go an ice cream cone without articles about their ice cream appearing online [1].
What if a high profile individual is falsely accused of rape, or of fathering a child, and it turns out it was a false accusation. Those dozens or hundreds of articles/tweets/videos aren't going to go away. It will quietly be announced by a handful of places "so and so was cleared, person was lying" and for months or decades those accusation articles are going to stay high on search results.
If John Smith gets a DUI, unless he did a bunch of property damage or killed someone in the process, an article isn't going to be written. If a billionaire does it [2] articles get written.
If a billionaire calls someone a pedo in a heated exchange, articles are written about it [3]. If Jane Doe calls someone a pedo (or worse) on twitter, one of her 13 followers might favorite the tweet, if another human being even reads it.
I imagine a significant percentage of people using these services aren't trying to defraud people, but simply trying to hide something embarrassing that has been preserved digitally, widely, that John and Joan Public simply never have to worry about. (nipple slip, porn tape, telling someone to eff off when they're having a bad day, tweeting something in haste like calling someone a creepy pedo, etc).
What if someone was formerly a neo-nazi, and they've spent the past decade fighting against hate (several of these types exist [4]) and living a completely different life? Should they not be allowed to bury their past and be judged on their current works instead of the foolish things they did in their youth?
[1] https://time.com/2982204/paul-mccartney-warren-buffett-selfi...
[2] https://money.com/a-billionaire-22-year-old-was-fined-30000-...
[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50695593
[4] https://www.npr.org/2018/01/18/578745514/a-former-neo-nazi-e...
There is an article in the local newspaper about my brother being arrested for driving while intoxicated and being in possession of a controlled substance. He's certainly not a billionaire.
In a local newspaper, not on a dozen tech/finance major publications with dozens of video clips talking about it from national and international broadcast outlets.
Reporting crimes in newspapers at varying levels has existed effectively as long as newspapers as they were a convenient means of notifying the public of happenings. That's why you still have to publish certain things in newspapers in many states, like when you want to change your name (for something other than marriage/divorce) so companies/persons you might be trying to hide from (for non-life or death situations like a battered spouse) have a reasonable chance of detecting an attempted evasion.
What about when your brother buys ice cream? I bet he doesn't make international news within hours, that then gets talked about for months by radio/tv/online news/blogs/reddit/twitter/etc.
I bet when he flies somewhere he doesn't have paparazzi waiting for him at the airport to take his photo, or people waiting to shove merchandise at him to sign (this happens to a lot of famous people, people find out they're coming in on a flight via various means and are waiting at the airport to try and get merch/photos signed that they then go attempt to sell).
There is a world of difference between public notice of a DUI and international press coverage before charges are even filed.
I'm not justifying the example case listed in the article, but put yourself in the shoes of someone that has used one of these services. Are you telling me, that if your brother could write a check and make any public record of his DUI outside of a law enforcement system vanish, that he wouldn't? (also, you gave a bad example as DUIs can be expunged in many states under various conditions and a random newspaper article about him, if even found, would be dismissed by any employer/lender/investigator when they ran his record and found it if he had it expunged and if he didn't have it expunged they'd find it anyway).
If an ex-girlfriend accused him of something, I bet it never left facebook. It would likely stay in the post and get ignored by a few people, a few people would take her side and believe her, and that would be that. It would be lost to time next to impossible to find in a feed. But what if a major business person is accused (falsely, which is later verified as false). Guess what, there are gonna be tons of articles that stay high in search results, there might never even be an article "the accuser admitted they lied, they wanted attention and money, they have a history of accusing people".
Reporting crimes in newspapers at varying levels has existed effectively as long as newspapers as they were a convenient means of notifying the public of happenings. That's why you still have to publish certain things in newspapers in many states, like when you want to change your name (for something other than marriage/divorce) so companies/persons you might be trying to hide from (for non-life or death situations like a battered spouse) have a reasonable chance of detecting an attempted evasion.
What about when your brother buys ice cream? I bet he doesn't make international news within hours, that then gets talked about for months by radio/tv/online news/blogs/reddit/twitter/etc.
I bet when he flies somewhere he doesn't have paparazzi waiting for him at the airport to take his photo, or people waiting to shove merchandise at him to sign (this happens to a lot of famous people, people find out they're coming in on a flight via various means and are waiting at the airport to try and get merch/photos signed that they then go attempt to sell).
There is a world of difference between public notice of a DUI and international press coverage before charges are even filed.
I'm not justifying the example case listed in the article, but put yourself in the shoes of someone that has used one of these services. Are you telling me, that if your brother could write a check and make any public record of his DUI outside of a law enforcement system vanish, that he wouldn't? (also, you gave a bad example as DUIs can be expunged in many states under various conditions and a random newspaper article about him, if even found, would be dismissed by any employer/lender/investigator when they ran his record and found it if he had it expunged and if he didn't have it expunged they'd find it anyway).
If an ex-girlfriend accused him of something, I bet it never left facebook. It would likely stay in the post and get ignored by a few people, a few people would take her side and believe her, and that would be that. It would be lost to time next to impossible to find in a feed. But what if a major business person is accused (falsely, which is later verified as false). Guess what, there are gonna be tons of articles that stay high in search results, there might never even be an article "the accuser admitted they lied, they wanted attention and money, they have a history of accusing people".
I'm actually okay with this development given that the media has devolved into an industry that manufactures villains for the sake of eyeballs and ad clicks.
So there's a startup right here in the US doing exactly what we accused a foreign government of doing during the 2016 election. Setting up fake new websites to generate content for clients to drown out real stores characterizing their misdeeds. All for just a few thousand per month.
This is unbelievable, and yet completely believable at the same time.