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BBC "pays to top Google search rankings"

By Barry Collins

Posted on 14 Sep 2009 at 08:02

The BBC is paying Google to have its website news listed in search results.

The Corporation is using part of its £100m annual marketing budget to pay for sponsored links, the Mail on Sunday claims.

Last week, for example, the BBC paid for keyword advertising around the Mercury Music Prize, driving traffic towards its own coverage of the awards.

Promoting content like the Mercury Prize online is an effective way to inform the licence-fee payers who will want to watch it or read about it

The revelation is likely to further anger the BBC's commercial rivals, such as Sky's James Murdoch, who has argued that the Corporation's online news coverage prevents commercial operators from achieving a fair price for their own content.

It will also call into question whether licence-fee payers' money should be spent on boosting the BBC's search presence.

The BBC has defended the Google ads. "Promoting content like the Mercury Prize online is an effective way to inform the licence-fee payers who will want to watch it or read about it," the Corporation claims in a statement given to the Mail on Sunday. "The BBC has an annual budget for marketing and value for money is at the heart of how decisions are made about spending it."

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User comments

Sour grapes...

If Sky were too slow off the mark to use the obvious benefits of Adwords, then it is their own hard cheese.

It is a fairly standard way of gaining eyes in on-line marketing.

By big_D on 14 Sep 2009

As a licence payer...

... I would darn well expect them to spend some money to make sure the BBC does reasonably in search listings!

By halsteadk on 14 Sep 2009

Welcome to modern marketing

If you are being paid to market media products in 2009 and at no point do you think "should we put something in Google?" you're not very good at this.

Is it more than the Mail on Sunday really minds that the Corporation isn't using part of its £100m annual marketing budget to pay for for adverts in the Mail on Sunday?

By steviesteveo on 14 Sep 2009

Welcome to modern marketing

By steviesteveo on 14 Sep 2009

And?

Well done BBC.Of course they want to be at the top of searches. What a non-story.

By denismahoney on 14 Sep 2009

Silly confusion between Paid / Organic search

This is a non story - sloppy or opportunistic journalism from the Mail reporter - anyone can pay for visiblity in Google, its called Adwords, and its not some shady deal involving public money!

I just wrote a blog post reacting to this story that readers my find interesting: http://blog.freshegg.com/bbc-seo_1455

By jaamit on 15 Sep 2009

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