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How J.C. Penney Gamed Google
You may have heard of a little game that companies play called SEO, or search engine optimization. The goal is to get a company's site to the top of search results (Google's, in particular) by manipulating text on a page, by choosing certain tags and by having incoming links from other sites. For the past several months, the undisputed king of SEO has been J.C. Penney. Search Google for "bedding," and at the top of the page was, until very recently, J.C. Penney. Searches for "dresses"? Same result. In fact, J.C. Penney was the number one result for a whole host of both incredibly generic and extraordinarily specific search terms on Google for months, including throughout the all-important holiday shopping season. How did the department store giant pull it off? According to the New York Times, thousands of links to the store were plastered on hundreds of sites across the Web, paid for by... somebody. J.C. Penney, though, is denying any connection to it.Google has cleaned up the results, but it highlights part of the problem with algorithm-based searches: They can be manipulated through less than honest means. J.C. Penney is hardly the first and won't be the last company to cheat its way to the top of Google searches. The Times article detailing how J.C. Penney gamed the system and how Google handled the situation is quite interesting, so hit up the source link for all the details.
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Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsjohnFeb 15th 2011 8:16AM
It doesn't surprise me that JC Penny would do this, I was scammed by them years ago in their store around Christmas time and haven't been back since. You have to watch them, they can be slick. If you try to scam Google you may get awaya with it at first, but they will catch you and possibly ban you.
kikdcancerFeb 15th 2011 10:09AM
@john
How did JCPenney "scam" you at Christmas?
johnFeb 15th 2011 10:22AM
@kikdcancer - I had one of their store credit cards around 1990. They sent me a discount card for 25% off non-sale items and 5% off sale items. I found this nice coffee maker that was not on sale for $70.00 so I decided to get it because I was going to get 25% off. I was also doing some Christmas shopping. I went to the checkout and gave the clerk my discount card, paid for everything and come find out, they deducted $5 off the coffee maker like it made it on sale so they didn't have to give me the 25% off.
DragonKattFeb 15th 2011 12:50PM
@john
That's why you check stuff as they are ringing things up. Something more or less than you thought? Have a problem? Then say it. People make mistakes, and a simple question can make all the difference.
I wouldn't say you were scammed. I would say the cashier made a mistake and you didn't realize you could question it.
jeanFeb 15th 2011 12:03PM
jcpenney has for the last 25 years survived on the good reputation known to your grandparents and great grandparents. todays jcp is greedy and abusive to it's associates. they should be right below wal-mart when it comes to ethics. at least wal-mart gives consumers a chance to get the max out of their dollar. jcp just thinks of new ways to get your dollar without giving you much for it. consumers take another hard look at this company before shopping there. if your children have careers with tell them to get out NOW!
NurseRiverBoatFeb 15th 2011 12:41PM
Oh, now stop beating poor old JC Penney up! They give me alot of bang for my buck. One time my husband bought 2 pairs of shoes and the coupon we submitted was expired. They honored it anyway, which saved us $60.00. That was a cool move, thus leading to this post defending the likes of this fine store. I love their line of clothing for executives; they do a great job over there buying clothes for women and men.. I love JC Penney. They have everything I need and at good prices!!!
I shop there for nice dresses, athletic apparel, shoes, underwear and socks. They have nice merchandise, the stores are clean, well-lit and organized and the sales associates are nice too.
SHOP JC PENNEY, and SHOP OFTEN!!!