A Google Bomb. What a scary phrase. Surely you must have heard this term being used before and wondered what it actually meant.
So what the term “Google Bomb” really mean, how is it being used as an intimidation tool in divorce and how can you protect yourself from being a victim?
In short, a Google Bomb is a way to promote a web page by associating it with a phrase, for example ‘
Divorce Lawyer’. By clicking on ‘
Divorce Lawyer’ and arriving directly at a web page, you are in effect telling Google that the phrase and the web page are related.
When someone carries out a search for the phrase ‘divorce lawyer’ Google will take a note of how many web users linked the phrase to a webpage, and the webpage which comes out as the most popular in this contest will be ranked higher than other pages.
Phrases can be linked to webpages by internet links on a web page, or by email. What is important is the number of web users who arrive at a webpage, for example
http://www.bainscohen.com/legal-services/legal-services/family.html through a click on the phrase ‘
divorce lawyer’.
So far so good. You can surely see how businesses can benefit from using this technique to promote their websites but this is not where this ends. And the story below will explain why. The problems start when people link completely artificial phrases to webpages. For example, if you link someone’s name to a webpage that you had created about them, using effective Google Bomb techniques, everyone who carries out a search on this person, is likely to arrive at the page that you had created, rather than at that person’s own website. This way, you could create devastating publicity and a hugely embarrassing situation for your victim.
Internet intimidation in divorce is starting to become a big problem for both men and woman across the country. It could results in long term damage to ones’ reputation and it places the victim in a prolonged situation of intimidation.
Here is a potentially horrific example of a particularly nasty Google Bomb.
In this case, the internet intimidation took place shortly after the couple got divorced. But still, there are plenty of examples where internet intimidation is taking place throughout the divorce process and it is important to recognise this as a form of intimidation and harassment.
A similar Google Bomb, to the one below was created by the ex-wife of once a successful and perfectly respected local businessman, let’s call him John Smith, who made the mistake of trying to swap his wife of 15 years with a younger woman.
Once the divorce process was over, John’s ex-wife went on a mission to
completely destroy her former husband.
She sent hundreds of emails in the name of her ex-husband:
Dear xxx,
it’s John Smith. I want you to do me a big favour and have a look at this website for me. Please let me know what you think. The link is John Smith. It will only take you a minute and I really want to know what you think about this.
Thanks,
John Smith
I will say nothing more. When you click on
John Smith you will see why. After you finished reading the webpage, come back and we will talk about how to avoid becoming a Google Bomb Victim.
How To Avoid Becoming a Google Bomb Victim
Well, there are a lot of things that you could do. To start, make a point of understanding how the internet works. Whether you like it or not, and whatever you think about the internet, an effective Google Bomb could be extremely painful at the receiving end.
You must therefore give high priority to some positive web presence. I am not an advocate of use of social media. I personally don't like it but the fact is that if you use social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn you make it more difficult for anyone to attack you by using a Google Bomb. Consider starting a blog. Go to “
Blogger” and start your own blog in less than 2 minutes. Try to post something on the internet with your name on it as often as you can in order to stop somebody else from ‘hijacking’ your name and associating it with their own webpages. I would say you should aim to posting something which carries your name with a link to your own blog or LinkedIn/Facebook page at least once a week.
Then, you might want to consider keeping an eye on the internet for new information about you. You can use a free took which is called ‘Google Alerts’ as a starter. It will send you alerts whenever it identifies your name being mentioned on a webpage or blog.
But whatever you do, give this article some thoughts and keep its content in mind at all times.
Yair Cohen
Bains Cohen Solicitors
