Buying Adwords Isn't Quite The Same Thing As Striking…

Overhype

from the collective-advertising? dept

Forget collective bargaining or a sitdown strike, it appears that Britain’s largest private-sector union is engaging in… well… buying some Google ads in protest. The Times Online tries to make this out to be an alternative to a strike or a walkout, and even implies that buying a few Adwords on Google to show their displeasure with the retailer Marks & Spencer would have a similar impact. It’s difficult to see why buying some ads on the Marks & Spencer ad is going to have much of an impact at all on any negotiations with the union. The article is actually fairly weak — not explaining clearly that the union is just buying ads that anyone could buy. It makes it sound as if the union is doing something special to have its complaints seen on Google. It also doesn’t mention that M&S could just outbid the union to get a higher ranking in the ads and to explain its side of the story. It is nice that the group is trying alternative means to get its point across, but it hardly seems worth comparing it to a strike, as the article implies.

Filed Under: advertisements, adwords, labor protest, strikes
Companies: google, marks & spencer