Google Japan Apologizes For Awkward PR Campaign, Gets Punished With PageRank Reduction

After an embarrassing pay-per-post campaign Google launched in Japan with the aim of boosting awareness of a new keyword hitlist box on the Google Japan top page, it now turns out the move, which was first brought to light by Japanese super bloggers Masato Kogure and Akky Akimoto, triggered a number of repercussions.

The aftermath in a nutshell: The campaign is now stopped, Google is embarrassed, apologizes and penalizes the Japanese site with a PageRank reduction.

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