Blog Assignment 9: Ethical Dilemmas of SEO

There are several, inevitable, ethical implications of SEO, search engine optimization. Several Internet search engines use search engine optimization, such as Google or Yahoo, in order to organize content by commonly searched terms. By tagging the most commonly searched terms to relative and popular websites, these sites will then appear at the top of a person’s web search. One of the most relevant issues with SEO searches is keyword trends. What I mean by this that sometimes people would benefit most from something printed in a newspaper, but do not know to search specifically in regards to a newspaper clipping. The searcher would just enter a main keyword, and search engines that use SEO would instead direct the search to the most popular or relevant source. However, this may not be the most beneficial or reliable source. What happens here, specifically, is when a search becomes a hit on the Internet, it doesn’t matter if the search is true or accurate. What matters is that the hit search is becoming increasingly popular, and the media wants that term to grow and to remain in existence for as long as possible. This is a huge ethical dilemma, especially in the field of journalism, because reporters cannot control what information becomes a hit search. Journalists can control what information is published and is known to be true. However, this reliable information sometimes gets pushed lower on a search engine list because searches that are more popular (even if these searches are inaccurate) will subsequently appear higher on the search engine list, due to SEO processes. If a keyword or topic is searched often enough, it will become noticed on the search engine and through the media. Whether true or not, that search will appear at the top of a search engine and will receive more traffic than searches lower on the page. This proves to be a major ethical dilemma, since rumors or claims can appear to be true if they are the first thing that pops up on a major search engine that people usually take to be a reliable research tool.

One of the most recent examples of the ethical dilemmas of SEO occurred after the Boston Marathon bombings. Throughout the immediate days following the incident, FBI officials and investigation officials were discussing possible suspects or persons of interest that were being held in custody or arrest. However, when the media projected this discussion (including big news cooperation reporters like CNN, who falsly reported on the claims during the days following the incident), viewers and readers went to the Internet for fast, updated information on the claims. Within hours, search engines, like this Google thread, topped with headlines like “the bombing suspect.” Though this had not been confirmed and in fact turned out to be a false speculation, this information appeared to be the top links on search engines, due to SEO. To truly understand the difficulty of SEO processes on the Internet when inaccurate reporting and information begins speculate and becomes increasingly popular, watch this criticism of CNN's reporting of the Boston Marathon suspect investigation by Jon Stewart. So much is done on the internet, even investigation searches, and readers must be aware that the most popular or top linked searches of information on a search engine may not always be accurate, but could just presented that way. 

As an aspiring journalist, I recognize the immediate ethical dilemmas involved with SEO. The problem with SEO is that the presentation of information is unethical. As an aspiring journalist, I would rather see the more accurate information filtered to the top of a story and have the claims and rumors pushed to the bottom of a web search and presented better, such as in a comment section of a story. But doing this denies the media of SEO optimization, and considering the mass amount of information that the Internet contains, it seems almost unrealistic that accurate, fact-checked information would be pushed above the most popular keyword searches.