Facebook has yet to eclipse Google as the number one internet destination and it would seem as though they’ll stop at nothing to do so.
Somebody, it seems, hired Burson-Marsteller, a top public-relations firm, to pitch anti-Google stories to newspapers, urging them to investigate claims that Google was invading people’s privacy. Burson even offered to help an influential blogger write a Google-bashing op-ed, which it promised it could place in outlets like The Washington Post, Politico, and The Huffington Post.
I think you figured out who was behind it:
Confronted with evidence, a Facebook spokesman last night confirmed that Facebook hired Burson, citing two reasons: first, it believes Google is doing some things in social networking that raise privacy concerns; second, and perhaps more important, Facebook resents Google’s attempts to use Facebook data in its own social-networking service.
Oh. That makes sense. Facebook believes Google is being shady, so it decided to play dirty. Seriously, how is that a defense? As for Facebook resenting Google’s data tactics, I find it a little ironic considering the Terms of Service games Facebook has played with users in the past.
Facebook has no defense. Citing these reasons as a response to their folly is like blaming your big brother when you get your hand caught in the cookie jar.
The PR firm Burson-Marsteller hurt themselves in the process, too. They are a huge PR firm that has represented many blue-chip corporate clients in the past 58-years. This wasn’t some little slip-up. These guys have been political consultants for Bill Clinton and chief strategist for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. They’re certainly no back-alley PR firm.
I for one (even though I use and love Google products) don’t fully trust Google. Their products are top notch and free. I was taught never to take candy from a stranger, and that’s what it kind of feels like. Facebook was founded on conflict and back-stabbing, so that’s no surprise, either.
So then, what can we learn from this?
Despite powerful PR firms and huge powerhouses like Google and Facebook, one blogger can give any of these guys a black-eye in a single mouse click:
“Publish”
[via The Daily Beast]
Speak your mind...