It pains me to write on this topic.  I sincerely thought that the basic tenet of Social Media – transparency – was becoming well understood among marketers.  But, the experience I’m about to describe makes me think that abuse of this principle may actually be widespread.  I feel angry and naive.

All names – and even industries – have been changed to protect the innocent (and I daresay “the guilty” get a pass too, as a result).

We signed a new client: a start-up with grand ambitions for touting their high-quality, respectable services to consumers.  The executives of this company are thoughtful, experienced and down-to-earth.  They also (blessedly) know what they don’t know, and turn to outside experts where appropriate.

Among the marketing approaches that the client claims no expertise on is SEO.  So, they hired an SEO agency. 

Within a few days, quite coincidentally, I start seeing new spam comments edging into my blog filter.  Normally I delete these without a 2nd thought, but, these spam comments are of the type that make you think twice before deleting, i.e., they almost sound relevant to the blog posts. 

So I double-check.  Yup – definitely spam: the commenter “name” is clearly not legitimate.  But the URL they provide?  It is my new clients’ URL!

We immediately call the client execs.  They had no idea that their new SEO firm was spamming the blogosphere to boost their Google Juice.  They call the SEO guys with a cease-and-desist command. 

And then, it gets worse.

After noting ominously that ending the blog spam campaign will hinder a fast rise in the Google rankings, the SEO agency exec nonetheless agrees to pull the plug on the blog spam… but, he counters with “another great idea.”

“Instead of the blog spam, we could have our employees post anonymously on blogs about needing a service similar to your offering… and then return a day later, posing as a customer who’s been happy with your services.”

I wrote about this slimy technique almost a year ago, and had been heartened to NOT hear much about such tactics again until this recent episode.  Thankfully our new clients put the kaibosh on this campaign… but, I can’t help but wonder how many clueless and/or evil SEO and PR agencies are engaged in such foul practices.

To be clear: this fraudulent tactic must be called-out whenever we see it, because if it gains a foothold, all of the good work being done in Social Media will be poisoned by consumer doubts about authenticity.

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