Your brand depends on your reputation on the internet. And Google's search page is a big part of your brand's online representation.it's no wonderA smart publicist is Apparently They were manipulating searches and manipulating incidents for the sole purpose of pushing unwanted articles down the ranks.
As these deepfake examples show, not everything is as it seems on the internet. Conspiracy theories about fabricated events range from Taylor Swift to Walt Disney, and they're all perfectly plausible (or downright wild, depending on your conspiracy leanings). So, I dug deep to share my favorites below. Read on for a more in-depth explanation of what exactly I'm talking about and a list of supposedly fabricated incidents, also known as SEO conspiracy theories.
What is the SEO conspiracy?
Essentially, it means filling Google with negative stories by creating stories based on the same keywords.
For example, if a celebrity slips on a banana peel, the entire coverage of that extremely embarrassing incident will appear in future Google searches.[celebrity name] “+Banana”. Celebrities will then stage more positive incidents involving banana peels, and hopefully Google will follow suit.
Here are my favorite SEO strategy conspiracy theories.
01. Taylor Swift's Jet
You've probably heard that Taylor Swift frequents private jets. So much so that last year, there was quite a storm on the internet over her carbon footprint after she topped the list for private plane use.
A Google search for “Taylor Swift Jett” brings up a cacophony of damning headlines that Swift's public relations team “probably” tried to drown out. The next thing we knew, Swift was watching a New York Jets game. It's now known that she was in the early stages of dating Kansas Chiefs player Travis Kelce (who was at the game), but all the headlines on the online articles read “Jets” instead of “Chiefs.” It was written mainly.
Daily design news, reviews, how-tos, and more, chosen by our editors.
Is it a coincidence?
This story has been replaced by one of continued private jet use, and that benefit has now been rescinded. But for a brief moment there, Taylor Swift Jett took on a completely different context.
02. Boris Johnson's bus
Well, he's not that famous. But this is a good one. If he lives in the UK, he will remember the pledge made by Brexiteer Boris Johnson. He claimed that leaving the EU would cost the NHS “£350m a week”. And I put it on the side of a bus in London. In 2019, as the dust settled over Brexit, Johnson (current Prime Minister) continued to be plagued by the claim, which became prominent on his Google search page.
What followed was a strange interview in which he was asked about his hobbies. Why this question was asked in this particular BBC interview of his remains a mystery, but we'll leave it at that. Johnson claims that in his spare time, his hobby is “building model buses.” Almost immediately, Google was flooded with articles about the prime minister's healthy tastes, erasing, intentionally or not, the legacy of the bus pledge.
The first page of search results now features a strange combination of an article denouncing the incident, a video of the interview itself, and an image of the fateful bus. Therefore, the benefits did not last long.
03. Frozen Walt Disney
A few years ago, there were rumors that Walt Disney was being kept in a freezer. And Google was full of it. You can see where I'm going with this.
Well, apparently Disney decided to make Frozen to manipulate that search. Or at least you chose your title with a specific purpose. Does it sound strange? Now, Disney lovers are speculating that this title doesn't follow the usual pattern of movie titles, which often have names like Moana, Sleeping Beauty, and Aladdin. Why didn't Disney simply name the movie “The Snow Queen”? Or Elsa?
I really doubt it. And this is the only one of this trio to stay firmly entrenched, with Frozen still reigning at the top of Google searches due to its enduring success.
04. Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez reportedly got tired of the internet fixating on her relationship status and released a song titled “Single Soon.” This means anyone trying to determine if the star is in a relationship will instead hit on her Google searches for her music.
Like the other theories on this list, it can't be verified, of course, but it's a clever way to distract internet sleuths, and it's pretty widespread in searches.