Letter to PR Week - 'Ethical web practice is critical for sector'

My letter to PR Week was published in last week's issue. It was in response to the article about PROs in the UK spamming bloggers as good practice and using link-farming to game search engines.

Basically I suggested that this was not the way forward for the UK industry. The full letter is below:

Opinion: Letters - Ethical web practice is critical for sector

It is a sad indication of the state of the UK PR industry if firms are relying on snake-oil salesmen tactics such as link-farming to manipulate search rankings for clients (Features, 11 January).

"Not only does this reflect the short-sighted attitude with which a large section of our industry approaches the internet, it also highlights how many firms do not understand the fundamental changes in communication being wrought by the web.

There are some examples of good practice in the article, such as Immediate Future's efforts to create 'honest conversation with bloggers'. But identifying key bloggers using computerised algorithms and then sending them four press releases a month is spamming.

There are attempts to lead the industry in the ethical adoption of social and new media tools - Edelman being one such firm championing responsible practices - but the industry also needs leadership from bodies such as the CIPR and PRCA, which have so far remained largely silent."

Technorati tags: PR Week, ethics, public relations

Comments

[James Barbour]

Sadly the PRWeek website still clings to its outmoded subscription model, so I can't read the article online.

The industry does, as you say, need leadership from the likes of the PRCA and CIPR. But if we conclude that both bodies (along with the APPC) are too weak to show this leadership, what next?

Surely it's up to the recipients of the spam, the bloggers who are on the receiving end of the endless press releases, astroturfing etc, to blow the whistle, to name and shame? This is where the likes of TWL, Strumpette and so on can provide such a useful balancing voice.

[Simon Collister]

Nice to have you back James!

I totally agree withy your poit abo0ut needing balancing voices - but I suspect unless there's a commercial imperative then little will happen to change things.

I can foresee Google becoming the de facto internet regulator.... hell, it already is most other things :)