Search Engine Optimization? Or Manipulation?

Here is an interesting post on the Daily Kos (never thought you'd see a Daily Kos link on this blog, did ya?).

Daily Kos: "A different way to make a big difference in 2010"
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/10/8/908577/-A-different-way-to-make-a-big-difference-in-2010

Essentially, what they are trying to do is coordinate their activity to identify online articles that are damaging to Republicans and drive those articles higher in Google search rankings, so that more people are exposed to those articles.

I don't see anything illegal about this. But it is interesting to see how technology changes the battle lines. It is important to be aware of the channels through which people get information, and to influence those channels if possible.

Will it work? I don't know. I don't have any inside information on this, but I think it's fair to say that people have been trying to influence search engine rankings for a long time. And search engines are aware of this and actively make changes to avoid being manipulated.