BBC buys up 'Hutton inquiry' Google links

[aerocontrols]

The BBC seems to want to make sure that as many people as possible read the story via BBC news:

Just 48 hours before Lord Hutton delivers his verdict on the controversy surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly, the BBC has begun an advertising experiment that involves buying up all internet search terms relating to the inquiry.

Despite being one of the main players in the drama, anyone searching for "Hutton inquiry" or "Hutton report" on the UK's most popular search engine Google is automatically directed to a paid-for link to BBC Online's own news coverage of the inquiry.

No other news broadcaster or any newspaper has paid Google for this facility, leaving the corporation's move even more conspicuous.

As one of the chief "interested parties" in the Hutton inquiry into the apparent suicide of Dr Kelly, the move will strike many as worthy of comment, not least because the BBC's online news pages will not be the most obvious place to go for the most comprehensive coverage, which is bound to include painful criticism of the corporation.

Source

The buy doesn't seem to have gone into effect yet, and there's certainly nothing wrong with this that I can see from a legal perspective (unless someone wants to quote the BBC charter at me, anyway) I wonder, though... what would the BBC's reaction have been if Blair's government had done something similarl?

MattJ

 

[Jon_in_london]

Seems like Bliar has been out-spun!