Facebook has been caught hiring a well-known PR firm to plant anti-Google stories in the media.
Both Facebook and the PR firm, Burson-Marsteller, admitted Thursday to trying to get journalists and bloggers to write negative articles about Google's privacy practices. The move comes as competition between Facebook and Google has accelerated over the past several months.
The Internet was abuzz with the news that Facebook undertook what many industry analysts and commentators are calling a surreptitious smear campaign against one of its competitors.
"When companies get big enough and grow really quickly ... you start to get these rather bizarre political marketing ploys," said Hadley Reynolds, an analyst with IDC. "It certainly isn't serving Facebook or the industry or Burson-Marsteller well, in this case. The power of social media exposes these shenanigans."
More: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9216656/
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Both Facebook and the PR firm, Burson-Marsteller, admitted Thursday to trying to get journalists and bloggers to write negative articles about Google's privacy practices. The move comes as competition between Facebook and Google has accelerated over the past several months.
The Internet was abuzz with the news that Facebook undertook what many industry analysts and commentators are calling a surreptitious smear campaign against one of its competitors.
"When companies get big enough and grow really quickly ... you start to get these rather bizarre political marketing ploys," said Hadley Reynolds, an analyst with IDC. "It certainly isn't serving Facebook or the industry or Burson-Marsteller well, in this case. The power of social media exposes these shenanigans."
More: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9216656/
