How To Bully Your Way To The Top of Google

December 20th, 2006

Or rather anger the SEO community with one e-mail. After returning from a relaxing two week holiday, I was catching up with some blogs (no wifi on the top of the Eiffel Tower) and found one of the biggest head-scratchers I’ve seen in a while.

Blogger Dean Hunt received a rather strange request via e-mail:

On Thursday morning I checked our google positions and your site is now above us for this term. I have checked your blog and it has nothing to do with [edited], so I think it would be best all round if you remove your blog from google for this search term.

Please understand that we make our living from this, and you are just writing a blog that has nothing to do with [edited].

If you do not remove yourself from google for this search, then I will call them myself and have you removed.

Obviously from somebody who has no clue how search engines work and takes a rather rude approach trying to resolve the issue. Dean, was not sure how to reply to this e-mail and posted it on his blog for suggestions and received hundreds of links.

Here was Dean’s response:

Dean here from DeanHunt.com

I just received your e-mail. My first question would have to be… Are you serious?

I had to re-read your e-mail three times to make sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me!

Here is some more info that may help you understand my stance on this:

a) I have never attempted to rank for the search term [edited], I seem to rank fairly well for [edited], which I suppose is fairly similar. But if Google prefers my site to yours then perhaps you should be asking yourself why that is.

b) There is nothing I can do about removing myself for that search term, nor am I going to attempt to do anything. I have no information on my site related to [edited], so I am sure that the searchers will generally visit your site instead.

c) You can contact Google if you wish! I doubt you will get a serious reply though.

Perhaps instead of wasting your time with e-mails like this you could work on improving your web site instead?

Anyway, good luck with contacting google, if you do get a reply, I would love a copy of their e-mail. I have prepared a nice little place on my wall to hang it from.

Take care,

Dean

To which he received this reply:

Dean,

Firstly, I have to admit that I was not impressed with the sarcastic nature of your reply.

Secondly, I am writing to let you know that I have contacted Google and am awaiting their reply.

You have to understand Dean that an online business should be higher in Google than a blog.

Don’t forget that Google is a business as well, they obviously make more money from other businesses than they do from blogs, so it is in their interest that I am higher than you for certain searches.

I have also contacted my lawyer about this issue, so you should expect a letter in the post very soon.

I expect a reply soon.

The whole story makes for amusing reading, rather than buying a link, hiring a search engine specialist, it appears the guy has decided to burn money on a lawyer to pursue an argument which has no steam at all. Dean, has not released the source of the e-mail, or the search term, which for some raises eyebrows - is this genuine? Or is it an excellent demonstration of viral marketing?