The Sun's purchase of Google keywords 'Natasha Richardson': is this ethical?

Posted by Emma Heald on March 20, 2009 at 10:46 AM

CounterValue reported that UK newspaper The Sun had purchased the keywords "Natasha Richardson" on Google meaning that anybody searching for name of the actress (whose recent tragic death has been widely reported) would see the link to the Sun's story appear alongside their search results. A Google search carried out today, however, did not show any sponsored links, meaning that perhaps the Sun has thought the better of its arguably morally-questionable purchase. Or perhaps after the first day it was not financially viable to keep the promotion going.

The Guardian came under considerable criticism last August when, apparently accidentally, it purchased the Google keywords "Madeleine McCann," giving any searchers the link to its coverage of the child's disappearance. The Guardian promptly relinquished the rights, and said it would review its list of keywords. Purchasing Google keywords in order to promote a product is common practice, but is it ethical for newspapers?

Obviously newspapers want to attract as many readers as possible, and few would question the legitimacy of promoting good content by making it search friendly, but buying keywords in the cases mentioned above comes across as a more blatant attempt to make money out of other peoples' tragedies, as well as a desperate effort to thrust a story under readers' noses. However, purchasing less controversial terms is unlikely to attract too much criticism, and one can argue that newspapers are selling a product like anyone else, so should be permitted to advertise as such.

Source: CounterValue, Journalism.co.uk