November 12 2006

Sponsored listings help retailers control negative news

Most click throughs from searches about product recalls are to news sites rather than to the actual manufacturer themselves, according to Heather Hopkins of Hitwise. In an article on her blog she discusses the use of sponsored links as a way of controlling negative messages and gives some specific examples.

During the peak time for searches for "dell battery recall", less than half of searches for that term sent visitors to a Dell website. Her blog also mentions that US legal firms have "been known to appear among the sponsored listings whilst building a class action suit".

Whilst this is a great way for a retailer, and indeed any company, to build its brand online and get messages across, I'm not sure whether more people would have clicked through to Dell - do people want the facts or do they prefer the 'gossip'?

Emma Herrod