By now, you’ve probably heard about Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum and his dealings with Google. The issue had to with a particularly unsavory definition that was applied to the candiate’s last name when an Internet search was conducted, something Josh covered extensively here.
Now, thanks to some Reddit users who refuse to let Santorum escape without a steady reminder of the alternative definition of his last name, it appears as if Santorum’s “Google problem” won’t be going away anytime soon.
Remember the Google bombs of old? You know, the nigritude ultramarine contest, John Kerry’s waffles fun, and George Bush’s miserable failure results? Well, some Reddit members are ensuring the alternate definition for “Santorum” applies to queries for the last name by itself and for searches using his first and last name. The strategy, just in case you forgot, was explained perfectly in the Reddit comments:
A public notice regarding Santorum.
Not completely sure how it works, but evidently if you link Santorum with the web site http://spreadingsantorum.com/ then that tends to keep Santorum name properly associated with the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex.
Something about Google bots picking up Santorum’s name each time Santorum is mentioned and linked online like that.
So to review, when you link Santorum with the web site http://spreadingsantorum.com/ then that tends to keep Santorum’s name properly associated with the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex.
Evidently this happens every time Santorum’s name is mentioned and linked online, so please be careful when you do mention Santorum’s name, and especially when you may associate Santorum with the web site http://spreadingsantorum.com/ and then further reference Santorum with the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this notice about Santorum.
This comment is followed by a number of troll-like comments that link the “Rick Santorum” name to the SpreadingSantorum.com website, with the goal of having the alternate definition rank highly for both the “Santorum” and the “Rick Santorum” search queries.
And their efforts seem to be working.
As of Josh’s writing, the site promoting the alternate definition that has the Senator up in arms — The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex — was ranked third when the term “Rick Santorum” was queried. Today, SpreadingSantorum.com has moved up to the second position.
So, considering Reddit’s efforts, does this mean it’s still Google’s problem or does Santorum need to hire some SEO experts for his campaign?