Is BP’s PPC Brand Campaign Unethical?

June 10th, 2010

As if the devastating oil spill in the Gulf wasn’t enough, BP might be making matters worse and further damaging its brand image, ironically, in an attempt to fix it.

Critics are accusing BP of manipulating search results on search engines like Google and Yahoo by spending large sums of money on pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, purchasing search terms like “oil spill,” “Gulf of Mexico” and “Deepwater Horizon” in an effort to boost its brand image in response to the major hit it has experienced from the current crisis.

BP PPC campaign

As seen in the image above, BP’s search result is featured as the sponsored (PPC) link at the top of search results pages for those search terms, linking to BP’s official web page in response to the oil spill crisis. Critics are slamming BP’s PPC strategy as unethical, since it pushes down other search results such as non-BP generated news and opinion pieces that are also addressing the spill. But is the strategy truly unethical?

While BP has confirmed that its digital teams and marketing executives are engaging in PPC campaigns, BP justifies its strategy by reminding critics that its search results are clearly indicated as sponsored links whose goal is to provide accurate information to help the people most affected by the spill.

A Lesson for Marketers & PR Professionals

Technically, BP is not in violation of any search engine guidelines. Its attempts are clearly pay-per-click based, meaning BP is not employing any black hat SEO techniques to affect organic search results. However, BP’s strategy can easily be construed by many as being controversial. While BP is technically doing nothing wrong, it is walking a fine line of what many people consider to be wrong.

Let this be a lesson in crisis communication for marketers and public relations professionals. When it comes to rebuilding trust and boosting your brand image during or following a crisis, be cautious. Instead of spending so much money on highly competitive keywords in a pay-per-click campaign, BP might have been better off in boosting its image by allocating that money to the oil spill’s recovery efforts.

Do you think BP’s PPC strategy is unethical in light of the current situation in the Gulf of Mexico? How could BP be doing better to boost its brand image?