Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links

Google Japan seems desperate in chasing the Mighty Yahoo! (see here for example). They are now using a tainted and controversial social media optimization method called pay-per-post, provided by CyberBuzz.

Recently, Google Japan announced a top-page redesign on their official blog, in which they added a “Google Kyuujyoushou Waado (Hot Keywords)” feature. This addition displays the 5 most searched-for keywords in the previous 24 hours. Google Japan planned the new feature to help with their tough search-share fight against nemesis Yahoo! Japan.

google-redesigned-top-20090209

In the screenshot above, just below the search box section, 5 keywords are listed with links to their respective Google searches.

At the same time, there are a number of blog entries on Google’s blog widget (called “blog parts” in Japanese) reviewing this “Hot Keywords” feature, all of them strangely resembling each other.

When you search for “Google Hot Keywords Ranking” + “Blog Widget” + “CyberBuzz” in Japanese on Google Blog Search, you will see over 30 posts by bloggers writing about this new service, saying things like “I’m a part of the CyberBuzz campaign” or “You can earn some money by writing interesting stories provided by CyberBuzz”. (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4)

google-blog-cyberbuzz-results-screenshot

So Google Blog Search, which has been spammed for so long, is now spamming itself in Japan.

I have translated part of a random entry as an example:

The Google Hot Keywords blog widget [link to Google's page] can show you what is in fashion now, and what other people are interested in.

It’s appealing that you can view buzzwords from the previous day or the previous week. I am sometimes surprised to see that such words are so popular! Personally, I like the “fortune-teller” feature from the previous week’s ranking. When I click on a keyword, I am quickly taken to Google’s result page and so I enjoy the feature.

I might not have noticed them by myself, but now I understand that these things are what people care about.

I am participating in CyberBuzz’s campaign.

CyberBuzz is one of the biggest pay-per-post agencies in Japan and are known for their high payouts. (Some blog posts fetch $100 for a single entry.)

So they are now link-building using monetary incentives to try to crook their own search results in a malicious way. I think this is a waste of money and only tarnishes their reputation for fairness.

Google Japan also does business with notorious news-clipping site Gigazine, and has been running a few ad campaigns which include special customized banners. There are many article-like advertisements on the site.

These articles, which look almost the same as regular ones, have “ad” tags (“広告” in Japanese) at bottom, which are very subtle, and will no doubt not be noticed by many readers. You can see for yourself by clicking the screenshot below, and reading the (poor) explanation at the bottom of the article that the entry is in fact an advertisement.

gigazine-google-pay-per-post

[Update 2009.02.10] Google Japan Apologizes For Inappropriate Pay Per Post Use

via Netafull

(Proofread by Sean O’Hagan)

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Author Information  Akky Akimoto is a one of the first pro-bloggers in Japan [J]. As an individual he writes for Asiajin and his own weblog [J]. He also produces web services including Twitter book recording service IvRead.com and comparison-chart community Narabe.com. Currently traveling in Taiwan.


82 Responses to “Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links”

  1. グーグルが自社のサービスを告知するためにPay Per Post広告を利用していたことが、Asiajin経由でTechCrunchに紹介され大きな話題になっています。Asiajin: Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post LinksTechCrunch: Yahooからの市場奪取に向けて手段を選ばぬGoogle、PayPerPostキャンペーンを採用

  2. da un modello occidentale, in paesi con un diverso background storico, linguistico e soprattutto culturale. O forse Google sperava davvero di colmare il divario che lo separa da Yahoo! tramite la diffusione di un semplice widget? Fonte:Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links(ripresa anche da Pay Per Post: Google Uses Every Trick To Beat Yahoo In Japan ). Copyright © TagliaBlog: puoi ripubblicare i contenuti di questo post solo parzialmente e solo inserendo un link al post originale.

  3. O blogAsiaJin, junto com o TechCrunch reportaram: Um novo serviço lançado pelo Google Japão (que mostra as 5 keywords mais procuradas nas últimas 24 horas) foi promovido usando POSTS PAGOS! O buscador teria pago cerca de US$100,00 para

  4. Asiajin blogrecently reported that Google Japan was paying bloggers to review a new Google widget. Using pay-per-post service CyberBuzz, blog posts like the following popped up, strangely resembling each other, as Asiajin reports:

  5. —はてなブックマーク – Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links | Asiajin流れました

  6. 今回のブログパーツのクチコミプロモーションを実施したそうです。 それが、海外向けのメディアでかなり厳しい論調で伝えられましたね。 まずはこれ。 ・「Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links」-Asiajin “Dirty”とまで書かれてます。 この記事を受けて、TechCrunchも報道。 ・「Pay Per Post: Google Uses Every Trick To Beat Yahoo In Japan 」-TechCrunch (本家)

  7. rilliantly did in the past, try to establish itself as a homegrown brand by putting a stronger emphasis on localized marketing and product strategies. But whatever Google has up its sleeves, pay-per-post campaigns surely are not enough to take over Japan from Yahoo. ViaAsiajinCrunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

  8. いいサービスであっても、広告主がどういうビジネスをしているかによってはやっていい手法とそうでない手法がある。■Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links | Asiajin

  9. Google heeft Google Japan gestraft voorhet betalenvan bloggers om te schrijven over Google en het linken naar de diverse Google diensten. Dit deed Google door de PageRank van Google Japan te verlagen, deze was voorheen 9 en is nu 5. Inmiddels heeft Google Japan officieel een excuus online geplaatst op

  10. Esto es muy raro, Google Japón ha pasado de PR9 a PR5 por una penalización por venta de enlaces. La cosa esasí: Google Japón anuncio en su blog un nuevo diseño en la portada del buscador, incluyendo una sección llamada “Google Kyuujyoushou Waado (Palabras más buscadas)”, todo por competir con Yahoo que se lo lleva casi todo en

  11. Google Japan kupuje płatne wpisy

  12. to increase their market share.  In Japan, Google are trying to catch up with Yahoo, who according to Neilson/NetRatings and ComScore have around 50% vs Google’s 30%.  In a seemingly desperate attempt to catch up with Yahoo,Google Japan decided to try a bit of pay per post, getting bloggers to review and link their latest Google Hot Keywords widget. Pay per post is a form of word of mouth marketing whereby a blogger can get paid for writing a blog post about a certain company or product. When the concept of pay per post

  13. ao seu controle e você tem que penalizá-la. É o que acaba de acontecer com o Google e sua sede no Japão, que teve seu próprio site penalizado pela gigante de buscas. Há alguns dias, descobriu-se que o Google Japan estavacomprando links em blogspara promover uma campanha de um dos seus serviços. Quem conhece o Google, sabe o quanto esse tipo de prática é condenada pelos caras e pode jogar a pontuação de PageRank lá pra baixo. O aviso da penalidade foi dado por Matt Cutts em seu

  14. C’est en tout cas ce que porte à croire la forte baisse de PageRank visible via la Google Toolbar concernant le PR de la page d’accueil de Google Search Japan … Certaines pratiquesrécemment constatéesdu côté du portail Japonais pourraient expliquer que la Home de Google Japon soit brusquement passée d’un PR9 à un PR5! Des sanctions de cette ampleur avaient été constatées au sein de la blogosphère francophone il y

  15. Google, si sa, sconsiglia fortemente di acquistare link a pagamento su altri siti con lo scopo di guadagnare PageRank ed influenzare il posizionamento. Di recente però, Google Giappone è stata sorpresa adacquistare post a pagamentoper promuovere una delle sue nuove funzionalità. Google in passato aveva dichiarato che questo tipo di attività andava contro le proprie linee guida. Per non smentirsi, la home page della versione giapponese di Google è passata da PageRank 9 a PageRank

  16. 」、「ページランクがゼロになり途方に暮れるPayPerPostユーザーたち」という記事が出ていた。今回のグーグル日本法人の行為が、Asiajinのサイトで「Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links(Google日本が汚いPay-Per-Postリンクを買う)」として英文でレポートされると、TechCrunchの記事になり、急きょ当該キャンペーンの中止という展開になったようだ。

  17.  概要を知らない方にざっくり内容を紹介すると、Google Japanが「急上昇ワードランキング」のプロモーションでCyberBuzzのPayPerPostサービスを利用していたことが、ネタフル、Asiajin経由で米国のTechCrunchにまで取り上げられ、それに対してGoogleが公式ブログで謝罪することになった。というのが基本的な流れです。 ・Google のマーケティング活動について

  18. , try to establish itself as a homegrown brand by putting a stronger emphasis on localized marketing and product strategies. But whatever Google has up its sleeves, pay-per-post campaigns surely are not enough to take over Japan from Yahoo. ViaAsiajin

  19. google PayPerPostの利用を謝罪。 こちらの記事で今回の経緯を憶測しているので引用させていただきました。 ネタフルのコグレさんが「使ってるんだー」ってつぶやいて、 それをAsiajinが拾って、 そこからTechCrunchで記事なった、って経緯かと。 面白い流れだね。 TechCrunchでの記事はこちら もっと詳しい経緯はこちら [を] Google

  20. campaña de compra de post

  21. respective top search engines. The same goes for Japan, where Yahoo leads the way with 51% of the market share, with Google coming in at second with around 39% of the share. In an effort to overtake Yahoo, Google Japan has engaged in some shady practices. On Monday, theAsiajin blogreported that Google Japan was making use of the Pay-Per-Post service known as CyberBuzz to promote one of their new web gadgets. The service pays bloggers to write glowing reviews and link to a product, essentially creating fake buzz around the net. After making the rou

  22. was apparently unaware of the company’s own terms of service. Paying a Japanese pay-per-post promotion company to pimp its new Hot Keywords blog widget caused the website to be busted down from PR 9 to PR 5. Many thanks goes out to bloggerAkky Akimotofor discovery and English translation of what might described as a big, corporate party foul. When searching for (in Japanese) Google Hot Keywords Ranking  + “Blog Widget” + “CyberBuzz,” Akimoto found over 30 posts writing about the widget, all o

  23. Yahoo as the no.1 search engine in Japan. Japan’s blogosphere was filled with reports that Google hired Cyberbuzz, a Tokyo-based internet marketing company to promote their Hot Keywords Widget as per per post basis. You can read TechCrunchAsiajin’sfollow ups on this. Soon Google Japan apologized: Google Japan is running several promotional activities to let people know more about our products. It turns out that using blogs on the part of the promotional activities violates Google’s search guidelines, so w

  24. Google「急上昇ワードランキング」の紹介でCyberBuzzを利用] ■これは農薬まみれな野菜だね、どーなってんの?[Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links | Asiajin] ■ヤフー八百屋に負けてるから手段を選ばない行動にでたね[Yahooからの市場奪取に向けて手段を選ばぬGoogle、PayPerPostキャンペーンを採用]

  25. en Japonés puedes encontrar unos 30 blogs que hablan del servicio de Google pagados por Cyberbuzz, que es la empresa de servicios de promoción social a base de pagos por posts que contrataron. Todo esto ha sido descubierto porAkky Akimoto, y hasta el propio Matt Cutts de Google habla en su Twitter sobre el cambio de PR de 9 a 5 que ha sufrido google.co.jp. Parece que desde Google Japón ya han emitido una disculpa por este incidente. Visto en: Webpronews

  26. [N] Google「急上昇ワードランキング」の紹介でCyberBuzzを利用Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links | Asiajinいいサービスであっても、広告主がどういうビジネスをしているかによってはやっていい手法とそうでない手法がある。: mediologic.com/weblog

  27. にpayperpost(金を払ってブロガーに記事を書かせる)の一種であるCyberBuzzを利用している」と指摘したのが発端。 続いてAkkyこと秋元裕樹さんが英語ブログAsiajinでGoogle Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links(Google Japanは汚いpayperpost記事を使っている)と批判。 Asiajinの同人でもあるTechCrunchライターのSerkan Totoさんが本家にPay Per Post: Google Uses Every Trick To Beat Yahoo In Japan

  28. PR is pushing that. When less people who really knows how to drive buzz, seeding post and paid article will become a norm.   More WebProNews Videos     Photo credit: http://www.webpronews.com/ Related: Asiajin blog

  29. por algún tiempo. Esto me recuerda al caso en que el fiscal presenta una acusación sobre un individuo por comerciar con drogas, pero es el mismo fiscal quien las consume de otro porveedor, mal Google, muy mal. Más detalles enGoogle Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links.

  30. ect Player and online music store Connect, all failed and busted, he resigned Sony and moved. And, now he is a head of GJ, and GJ employed the taboo advertising methodology, pay-per-post, to make itself penalized. What’s going on here? While GJ released the apology abouttheir conductwhich is against their company policy, they told that CyberBuzz, run by Cyber Agent, Inc., online ad company, IS a pay-per-post service. But, Cyber Agent does not say so. CyberBuzz is a kind of buzz-marketing service, but it is different from what generally defined as “pay-p

  31. en Japonés puedes encontrar unos 30 blogs que hablan del servicio de Google pagados por Cyberbuzz, que es la empresa de servicios de promoción social a base de pagos por posts que contrataron. Todo esto ha sido descubierto porAkky Akimoto, y hasta el propio Matt Cutts de Google habla en su Twitter sobre el cambio de PR de 9 a 5 que ha sufrido google.co.jp. Parece que desde Google Japón ya han emitido una disculpa por este incidente. Visto en: Webpronews Fuente:

  32. Esto es muy raro, Google Japón ha pasado de PR9 a PR5 por una penalización por venta de enlaces. La cosa esasí: Google Japón anuncio en su blog un nuevo diseño en la portada del buscador, incluyendo una sección llamada “Google Kyuujyoushou Waado (Palabras más buscadas)”, todo por competir con Yahoo que se lo lleva casi todo en

  33. en Japonés puedes encontrar unos 30 blogs que hablan del servicio de Google pagados por Cyberbuzz, que es la empresa de servicios de promoción social a base de pagos por posts que contrataron. Todo esto ha sido descubierto porAkky Akimoto, y hasta el propio Matt Cutts de Google habla en su Twitter sobre el cambio de PR de 9 a 5 que ha sufrido google.co.jp. Parece que desde Google Japón ya han emitido una disculpa por este incidente. Visto en: Webpronews

  34. [...] Asiajin CrunchBase Information Google Japan Information provided by CrunchBase [...]

  35. Google Buying Reviews Through Cyberbuzz?…

    It would appear that Google Japan is ready to stoop to new lows in order to beat out their rival Yahoo! In fact, so low that they’re willing to pay internet marketing company Cyberbuzz to post good reviews of their new keyword widget. Seems fitti…

  36. [...] Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links | Asiajin [...]

  37. [...] 本記事はAsiajinでの情報を参考に執筆した。 CrunchBase Information Google Japan Information provided by CrunchBase [...]

  38. [...] Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links | Asiajin [...]

  39. [...]  騒ぎのきっかけとなった震源記事はこちらの「Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links」のようです。 [...]

  40. [...] TechCrunch picked up the story initially reported by Asiajin. [...]

  41. [...] Τ˻Ŧ – Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links (Asiajin) http://asiajin.com/blog/2009/02/09/google-japan-buys-dirty-pay-per-post-links/ ơTechCrunch ˼夲롣 – Pay Per Post: Google Uses Every Trick To Beat Yahoo In [...]

  42. [...] informações do blog Asiajin, o Google teria utilizado os serviços da CyberBuzz, empresa especializada em oferecer serviços de [...]

  43. [...] These articles, which look almost the same as regular ones, have ad tags (ɹ in Japanese) at bottom, which are very subtle, and will no doubt not be noticed by many readers. You can see for yourself by clicking the screenshot below, and reading the (poor) explanation at the bottom of the article that the entry is in fact an advertisement. Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links | Asiajin [...]

  44. [...] tricks in relation with Wikia Search and to my surprise Google was reported to be even dirtier by Akky Akimoto at Asiajin. The search giant that penalizes website owners for buying and selling links bought sponsored [...]

  45. [...] blogscope, we see that Google Japan was buying paid posts: [Google] are now using a tainted and controversial social media optimization method called [...]

  46. [...] Asiajin第一个报道了Google日本的这个dirty行为,techcrunch进一步报道并且在其日本站上继续讨伐。 [...]

  47. [...] Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links [...]

  48. [...] Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links 急上昇ランキングのブログパーツを紹介しているサイトが [...]

  49. [...] Akimoto, responsable du blog asiajin.com, a récemment déclaré que Google payait des blogueurs via l’agence de RP digitale Cyberbuzz [...]

  50. [...] Upozornil na to server Asiajin.com. Firma na sprostredkovanie svojej “pay-per-post” kampene vyuvala server CyberBuzz.co.jp, ktor je poda servera najvou slubou podobnho druhu v Japonsku znmou vysokmi provziami. Niektor do nej zapojen blogy za jeden reklamn prspevok dostvaj v prepote aj sto dolrov. [...]

  51. [...] יפן, לעומת זאת, סברה, כנראה, שאין מניעה שהיא בעצמה תרכוש פוסטים מוזמנים באמצעות חברת CyberBuzz [...]

  52. [...] letzten 24 Stunden an. Um dieses Feature zu promoten, hat Google Japan sich eines Service namens CyberBuzz bedient. Letztendlich sowas wie Trigami; Blogger schreiben bezahlte Blogeintrge zum gewnschten [...]

  53. [...] Akimoto at the Asiajin blog recently reported that Google Japan was paying bloggers to review a new Google widget. Using [...]

  54. [...] Asiajin Bookmarken und wiederfinden: [...]

  55. [...] info på: Asiajin.com och TechCrunch. Dela info om domäner och sökmotoroptimering: These icons link to social [...]

  56. [...] dari paid links ini, Google sendiri telah ‘mendenda’ Google.co.jp dengan menurunkan nilai PR mereka [...]

  57. [...] PageRank ed influenzare il posizionamento. Di recente però, Google Giappone è stata sorpresa ad acquistare post a pagamento per promuovere una delle sue nuove [...]

  58. [...] הדיווחים מהשבוע האחרון שמספרים על שימוש לא הוגן שעשתה גוגל יפן במסגרת קידום אחד המוצרים שלה ברשת הפכו לדיון סוער בקרב עכברי הרשת (לא משנה שזה ייקח בדיוק 3 ימים ואך אחד לא יזכור).  מסתבר שגוגל יפן פשוט שילמו לבלוגרים כדי לכתוב ביקורת על אחד הווידג’טים שלהם. [...]

  59. [...] Todos los datos, en Asiajin [...]

  60. [...] Google has slapped down a penalty on Google Japan for publicly and somewhat arrogantly paying bloggers to write about them and link to Google Japan [...]

  61. [...] out that google.co.jp had been buying “Pay-Per-Post” links from “Cyberbuzz” according to Asiajin. Matt Cutt commented on Twitter and said “Google.co.jp PageRank is now ~5 instead of ~9. I expect [...]

  62. [...] A fun story caught my eye today as Google penalised themselves for buying links. [...]

  63. [...] ne oldu? Google Japonya şubesi gitti tanıtım methodu olarak bunu seçti. Sonra resmi bloglarından özür dileseler de, internette insanların diline düşmekten doğal [...]

  64. [...] lengkapnya bisa dibaca disini dan [...]

  65. [...] From http://asiajin.com/blog/2009/02/09/google-japan-buys-dirty-pay-per-post-links/ [...]

  66. [...] Japan is in hot competition with Yahoo! for search traffic. Share and [...]

  67. [...] qui reste premier au Japon, Google.co.jp est passé à l’attaque en utilisant un système de pay per post pour tenter de changer la donne. Cette pratique étant désapprouvée par la maison mère, Google a [...]

  68. [...] Akimoto at the Asiajin blog reported last week that Google Japan hired Cyberbuzz, a company that specialises in online [...]

  69. [...] Google日本分部的人为了推广自己的服务,通过当地的付费博客帖子服务购买了一些付费帖子,当然里面都有付费链接。这件事被Asiajin博客首先报道,2月9号上了TechCrunch,并迅速在SEO圈子里发酵。 [...]

  70. [...] to Google Blogoscoped, Akky Akimoto wrote on the Asiajin blog that Google Japan was paying bloggers to evaluate a new Google widget through a pay-per-post [...]

  71. [...] If their definition of pay-per-post is true, and if Google penalized their Japanese office for using pay-per-post, I must apologize for my first report. [...]

  72. [...] widget via pay-per-post assistance named Cyberbuzz. The content was written by Akky Akimoto on Asiajin blog. More WebProNews [...]

  73. [...] widget caused the website to be busted down from PR 9 to PR 5. Many thanks goes out to blogger Akky Akimoto for discovery and English translation of what might described as a big, corporate party foul. When [...]

  74. [...] To check out the original post that uncovered the whole shameful episode, check that out here [...]

  75. [...] I came across this on the Asiajin blog. Start reading here, then follow the related posts: Asiajin – Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-per-Post Links. [...]

  76. [...] מעט נכתב ברשת על המקרה של גוגל יפן, בו למעשה גוגל יפן שילמה לבלוגרים כסף כדי שירשמו על [...]

  77. [...] the issues like Google Japan’s pay-per-post incident, Google headquarters might be thinking more direct control by having more communicable local [...]

  78. [...] of link-menu) Japanese users than proactive (searching) western users, however was involved with unfortunate promotion mistake (2), (3). This short time recall still can be decided by that feature’s performance to lure [...]

  79. [...] 個人的には Asiajin で書かれた記事「Google Japan Buys Dirty Pay-Per-Post Links | Asiajin」がこれから世界に広まっていくのかどうか興味津々です。 [...]

  80. [...] widget caused the website to be busted down from PR 9 to PR 5. Many thanks goes out to blogger Akky Akimoto for discovery and English translation of what might described as a big, corporate party foul. When [...]

  81. [...] Η Google Japan, χρησιμοποίησε την ίδια ακριβώς τακτική για να προωθήσει το redesign που θα γινόταν στην αρχική [...]

  82. [...] their own terms of service. They say paying for blog posts are bad and prohibited. Guess what? Google paid for blob entries in Japan because they’re desperate. They only apologized because they got [...]

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