Cnet Bastards
This is actually beyond stupid news. Pathetically shameful would be a better description.
Cnet writer Elinor Mills recently wrote an article about how traditional newspapers are struggling with the difference between writing headlines for a print publication and writing headlines for web content.
There is a side piece attached to the article where Stephan Spencer provides some SEO commentary on 14 historic headlines from U.S. publications. Tucked way down at the bottom of the list is some comments on a headline from the San Francisco Examiner on the World Trade Center attacks.
Out of the 14 historical headlines they gave Stephan to review, which one do you think they embedded in the original article and turned into a full page with the title:
“A news headline hit, but an SEO dud?”
Was it the Wall Street Journal article “Green Beans Comes Marching Home,” which was the focus of the original article?
Of course not.
Instead, they chose a full page photo of one of the Twin Towers moments after impact. A photo that literally captures the moment where hundreds of U.S. citizens died. And to top it off, they added the following paragraph complete with social bookmarking links:
What might work well as a newspaper headline, especially when paired with an appropriate photograph or secondary headline, won’t necessarily show up high in Internet search rankings. Of this particular headline, Stephan Spencer, president and founder of search engine optimization company Netconcepts, said: "Interjecting keywords like ‘terrorism,’ ‘terrorists’ or ‘terror attack’ would have helped this article in the search engines."
Wow. Now that’s some great ink. I can’t imagine how cool it would be to have my name used to tell the world what an idiot the Editor of the Examiner was for not realizing what a great SEO opportunity 911 was. Stephan must be thrilled.
Now if Stephan new that Cnet planned to use that photo as the main image in the article, I’ll be the first to stand up and say that Stephan is an ass. However, based on my personal experiences over the years with Cnet, I’d be willing to bet that’s not the case. The only thing Stephan’s guilty of is being naive enough to answer any questions about that particular headline.
What all you up-and-coming “SEO Consultants” need to understand is this:
Cnet is a piece of shit organization. Their reporters and editors are pieces of shit who could care less about maintaining the integrity of an interview. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve either been miss quoted, or completely lied to by people from Cnet. They either completely distort what you say, print things you said were "off-the-record," or publish a version of a story that will forever mark you as the insensitive asshole who had the balls to scold the Examiner for not thinking about SEO on September 12, 2001.
Just say no to Cnet. Any company who would hire an Editor that would think it was a great idea to use a photo like that to pimp a story about SEO, is a piece of shit. Plain and simple. Hopefully, Stephan will realize that and make a better decision the next time Cnet troll calls.
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4 Responses to “ Cnet Bastards ”
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Greg, I agree with you about CNet, but given the emphasis many people are putting on ‘linkbait’ lately, his ‘SEO’ advice doesn’t surprise me.
>>”Interjecting keywords like ‘terrorism,’ ‘terrorists’ or ‘terror attack’ would have helped this article in the search engines.”
Hmm, I recall reading an article recently that used that tactic. It inspired me to write ‘Linkbait is the New Bullshit’.
The advice now seems to be, ‘fuck integrity, get readers’.
Well I had never heard of Netconcepts until today.
Greg, you guessed right that I had no idea any photo, let alone such a horrific one, was going to be associated with my comments. Nor did I have the benefit of context to any of these newspaper articles. I was provided the headline text only… no other copy from the articles or photos or captions. I certainly hope no one reading the article misconstrues me as being insensitive, callous or un-American. *sigh*
C’mon Stephan. We all know how you expats in New Zeland are.
Times must be tough for pubs that need to yank on the 9/11 strings for a story about SEO.