Friday, January 30, 2009

Gaza conflicts involved "Search Engine Optimization"

(Brafton) In what may prove to be one of the ways global conflicts are fought in the 21st century, Israel used search engine optimization (SEO) to halt the online backlash it was receiving during the recent conflict in Gaza.

As well as some search engine optimization work (SEO) done by a Texas company for the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), numerous pro-Israeli Facebook groups along with a YouTube channel from the IDF were created in the days after the clash began.

"The stickiness makes it a medium that lets people feel, rather than remain passive," search engine optimization (SEO) expert Joel Leyden told Media Post. "You can put messages in MySpace or Facebook, but it goes nowhere until you drive the content through search engines like Google News. Now you're reaching 60 million people instantly."

In addition, the Israeli consulate began using the micro-blogging service Twitter and even used the service to take questions during a news conference.

The Web 2.0 war continued during the course of the conflict with hackers from both sides creating online propaganda with various sites being defaced.

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