It’s no secret that we’re in the business of digital marketing, and without a thriving digital economy we couldn’t do that. We take our ethical and moral standards in our work seriously, and would love to take this opportunity to support a few worthy causes we think do a wonderful job, keeping the web a safe, enjoyable and honest place to be. So if you have an extra buck lying around and you value what a potentially amazing tool the internet could be, if you would like to join the battle against the bots, liars and mega corporations that threaten the very foundation of the internet, then have a look at these.
Wikipedia
Not everyone knows, because let’s face it, you wouldn’t discover it accidentally while you’re cutting and pasting your entire homework project from Wikipedia, that Wikipedia is in fact managed by a non-profit foundation called Wikimedia.
“Wikimedia strives to bring about a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge.” What’s a better mission-statement than that? The importance of Wikipedia to Google has long been clear. Ever since Google has been taking it’s content and displaying it directly in search to answer queries, even by attaching the wikipedia page for every ‘Google Doodle’ they create. But more recently it announced that Youtube would display Wikipedia info next to videos of conspiracy theories. We know informing people, most certainly is not a bad thing. But you may expect some of these mega corporations that benefit from Wikipedia’s content might give something back, but no. Youtube didn’t even let them know of their plans! Google is far from the only offender, try asking Siri (Apple) or Alexa (Amazon) and see where they steal the info from. It takes millions of people contributing constantly to keep wikipedia accurate, the information is neutral and supported by sources. If you appreciate their work then why not support them with your green.
Net Neutrality
Right now this is mostly relevant to the US. But too often where the US goes the rest of us follow. Basically Net Neutrality ensures that internet providers can’t prioritise net content. In today’s world “John’s Car Parts” already has to compete with the likes of Amazon, now imagine a world where Amazon get’s delivered to everyone on the internet, because they’ve made a deal with the internet supplier but John down the street couldn’t, so potential customers would have to be paying extra to get to see his site. In Europe some providers are already skipping the rules that are in place though. You might get unlimited internet for specific apps for example. To fight this battle it’s not something your penny’s can resolve, but if you know any American’s tell them to contact their representatives in the senate to fight for Net Neutrality!
Web Foundation
Tim Berners-Lee created the internet in 1989, and since then he’s founded the Web Foundation to keep it a place of equal opportunity, and to fight abuses like censorship from Governments and manipulation from large corporations. They influence policy makers in a number of countries but are completely dependant upon donations, so to keep the internet fair please give them a few notes of your support. The internet, like many things is a beautiful thing a Brit gave to the World, only to have it ruined by the Americans.Reputable Publications
The internet has about reached content saturation point, companies have been churning out content in pursuit of the golden click, not all of it good and not all of it true. The users are finally getting sick of it. Social media platforms aren’t even going to show your content anymore unless their algorithms judge it to be useful, or a valuable experience for the user.
So businesses need to get smarter with their content, sometimes less is more. But with all the content that has polluted the web some of the biggest sufferers have been traditional news providers. Previously they sold newspapers to make their £s but now they’re not even used for chip-paper. Nobody is buying print when it can be consumed online for free. Now we know what you’re thinking, ‘poor news corporations’ – they’ve got plenty of money to keep going. But we’re talking about the old-school virtuous publishers that cultivated journalism with integrity, that could get dishonest presidents impeached, not elected! Without mentioning names, because they’re not actually charities, but if you feel like one of the publishers provides a service to the public then you might consider bunging them a quid or two.
@Channel4News took our evidence painstakingly gathered over 10 months to get permission to make their film. The @guardian & Observer’s public service journalism is bedrock of this entire transatlantic (@chrisinsilico -inspired) news enterprise. Please support.
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 19, 2018
About Us
We purposely avoid dishonest practices in our industry, techniques sometimes known as ‘black hat SEO’. We don’t use link farms, we don’t buy social followers, we don’t add invisible text and we don’t do any of the shady practices that could threaten the credibility or authority of your brand. When you trust us with your business’s online reputation, that’s not something we take lightly, and the possibility of facing hefty penalties from Search Engines and Social Networks would be somewhat counterproductive to our business.
If you suspect that we may be able to add to your online strategy then just give us a call.