From this Reuters report:

A parental advice Internet site has sued Google Inc., charging it unfairly deprived the company of customers by downgrading its search-result ranking without reason or warning…….

….. KinderStart charges that Google without warning in March 2005 penalized the site in its search rankings, sparking a “cataclysmic” 70 percent fall in its audience — and a resulting 80 percent decline in revenue.

“Kinderstart - Because kids don’t come with instructions.” This site should be called: “Lawyers - Because we never learned to play well with others.”

This company (kinderstart.com — no link because they don’t deserve it — you’ll have to cut and paste) so clearly doesn’t understand the web. This lack of understanding always surprises me. I am not surprised that there’s a lawyer wanting to get some fame by fighting the case but I am surprised that the company behind Kinderstart is prepared to go head to head with Google.

Kinderstart, from first glance, appears to want to be a child / parent-related search engine itself. (Though it’s hardly sophisticated, or world-class, or innovative, or even well done. I am a parent, and I’d never use this site. Why would I?) Given that they’d like to be an engine of some sort, themselves, I’d bet there’s another motive behind this law suit other than the site’s decline in revenue. I am not even sure I understand this site’s revenue model….. the irony is that it seems that this sites may get its primary source of revenue from Google Adwords.

I don’t imagine that Google is shaking in their boots.

To anyone following the tale of ‘Micah the dog, the Vomit and the Dog Food Company’, I’ve posted an update. In summary, Micah is still fine, we’ve received some money but was it the best case study in excellent public relations? Hardly.

Seth Godin has posted about why the ‘marketing’ of the global warming problem has failed. He’s got some good points about the problems:
1) that the words in the name - global and warming - both inspire good, warm feelings - we think that ‘global’ is good, and warm is, of course, good. BUT GLOBAL WARMING IS BAD, DUMMIES! (The same problem arises with ‘climate change’. We’re told all of our lives that change is good’ and we know all about climates. Mmmmm. The thought of a warm climate makes me green with envy at the moment, but that’s just the northern Canadian in me.)

Seth proposes the name ‘atmosphere cancer’.

Alternately, what about ‘death by choking’ or ‘poisonous air’ or even “air flu” (given the ’success’ of ‘bird flu’ in raising global fear) - making the problem personal to each of us so that we can’t think, “atmosphere cancer? Poor guy. But cancer will never happen to me. I don’t smoke. It doesn’t run in my family.”

But ‘death by choking’ is personal. I can envision that. It’s terrifying.

2) that global warming is happening too slowly and with not enough visual impact to make good tv. How true! Yet how pathetic we as a people are! It’s all about fast moving images and bright lights.

Seth Godin is so right. This is a huge marketing challenge. It would be awesome if the best minds in the advertising business would get behind this and try to change our thinking about this issue. What about turning global warming into a reality tv show? I hear they are all the rage.