French blogger fined over review's Google search placing

[klr]

I think a restaurant reviewer has every right to write negative comments about the food and/or service, but, as mm said, it may be a step to far to advise others to avoid the place...

Surely it's a very small step from the first to the second?

Anyway, I'm more concerned about the search engine issue. I suppose we should be thankful that Ratz public threads are unlikely to rank highly in any search results. But we could get unlucky.

I know what you mean by a small step, but it may be a rather important distinction in the legal sense...

Anyway, if Ratz survived the whole Pappa rape/PZ saga, we can survive anything...

PZ? Whatever happened to him then? He has no staying power, I tells ya.

[mistermack]

Anyway, if Ratz survived the whole Pappa rape/PZ saga, we can survive anything...

Did Pappa rape PZ ? . . . . Respect !

[mistermack]

Just thinking about the destructive power of a few words reminds me of Gerald Ratner.

He was the head of Ratner's, which was the biggest jewelry chain in the UK by a big margin. A billionaire in today's money, I would have thought. There was at least one Ratner's in every town of any size.

He made one comment, in a speech at a jewelry conference. '' why can we sell something like this for xxx pounds ? Because it's total crap !! ''

That one phrase brought the entire empire down around him in tatters.
Of course, it was self inflicted, not an outside criticism, but it just shows the power a few words can have.

[klr]

Just thinking about the destructive power of a few words reminds me of Gerald Ratner.

He was the head of Ratner's, which was the biggest jewelry chain in the UK by a big margin. A billionaire in today's money, I would have thought. There was at least one Ratner's in every town of any size.

He made one comment, in a speech at a jewelry conference. '' why can we sell something like this for xxx pounds ? Because it's total crap !! ''

That one phrase brought the entire empire down around him in tatters.
Of course, it was self inflicted, not an outside criticism, but it just shows the power a few words can have.

Oh yes, I remember that one.

But it was so devastating precisely because it was self inflicted.

[mistermack]

Oh yes, I remember that one.

But it was so devastating precisely because it was self inflicted.

The size of the damage was astounding though. £500 million wiped off the value of the company, in 1991.
That's equivalent to more than a billion dollars, in today's money.
If some outside critic managed to cause just one percent of that damage, it would still be ten million dollars.

And of course, it works the other way too. Famous people get huge amounts of money, for endorsing a product. Rory Mcilroy is reported to be getting $250million dollars off Nike, over ten years.
A few misplaced words could destroy all that.

[klr]

Oh yes, I remember that one.

But it was so devastating precisely because it was self inflicted.

The size of the damage was astounding though. £500 million wiped off the value of the company, in 1991.
That's equivalent to more than a billion dollars, in today's money.
If some outside critic managed to cause just one percent of that damage, it would still be ten million dollars.

And of course, it works the other way too. Famous people get huge amounts of money, for endorsing a product. Rory Mcilroy is reported to be getting $250million dollars off Nike, over ten years.
A few misplaced words could destroy all that.

Rory can be relied upon to put foot in mouth every now and again, usually via his Twitter account. You just can't trust the youth of today with all this newfangled instant digital communication technology.

But he's unlikely to say anything that would put his endorsement mega-deals in danger. Now, if he went around biting fellow competitors, or crashing into trees and fire hydrants while trying to escape from a domestic "situation" ...

[mistermack]

Rory can be relied upon to put foot in mouth every now and again, usually via his Twitter account. You just can't trust the youth of today with all this newfangled instant digital communication technology.

But he's unlikely to say anything that would put his endorsement mega-deals in danger. Now, if he went around biting fellow competitors, or crashing into trees and fire hydrants while trying to escape from a domestic "situation" ...

........ he might be interesting.

[Hermit]

Rory can be relied upon to put foot in mouth every now and again, usually via his Twitter account. You just can't trust the youth of today with all this newfangled instant digital communication technology.

But he's unlikely to say anything that would put his endorsement mega-deals in danger. Now, if he went around biting fellow competitors, or crashing into trees and fire hydrants while trying to escape from a domestic "situation" ...

........ he might be interesting.

I think the biting refers to a football player and the domestic "situation" to a golfer.

Ian Thorpe came out last week. He said it had taken him so long in part because he was concerned about losing is sponsorship contracts.

[mistermack]

Rory can be relied upon to put foot in mouth every now and again, usually via his Twitter account. You just can't trust the youth of today with all this newfangled instant digital communication technology.

But he's unlikely to say anything that would put his endorsement mega-deals in danger. Now, if he went around biting fellow competitors, or crashing into trees and fire hydrants while trying to escape from a domestic "situation" ...

........ he might be interesting.

I think the biting refers to a football player and the domestic "situation" to a golfer.

Ian Thorpe came out last week. He said it had taken him so long in part because he was concerned about losing is sponsorship contracts.

Yeh. Suarez of Argentina and Tiger Woods. Ian Thorpe came out last week?
I was told he was gay about ten years ago. That's the Australian swimmer? He's just confirming old news then.

[Brian Peacock]

What do the French know about food anyway?

[Svartalf]

More and better than brits, lazt time I checked.

[mistermack]

Ha !.

The French wouldn't know a monster munch from a frazzle.

[JimC]

Rory can be relied upon to put foot in mouth every now and again, usually via his Twitter account. You just can't trust the youth of today with all this newfangled instant digital communication technology.

But he's unlikely to say anything that would put his endorsement mega-deals in danger. Now, if he went around biting fellow competitors, or crashing into trees and fire hydrants while trying to escape from a domestic "situation" ...

........ he might be interesting.

I think the biting refers to a football player and the domestic "situation" to a golfer.

Ian Thorpe came out last week. He said it had taken him so long in part because he was concerned about losing is sponsorship contracts.

Yeh. Suarez of Argentina and Tiger Woods. Ian Thorpe came out last week?
I was told he was gay about ten years ago. That's the Australian swimmer? He's just confirming old news then.

People assumed he was, but he denied it, partly because of the sponsorship thing Hermit alluded to. I think public views of the whole gay thing have shifted significantly in the last ten years, to the point where commercial sponsors probably wouldn't bay an eyelid any more. And a good thing too...

[Svartalf]

Ha !.

The French wouldn't know a monster munch from a frazzle.

But do you know a doozer from a fraggle, or a poularde demi deuil from a lapin chasseur?

[mistermack]

People assumed he was, but he denied it, partly because of the sponsorship thing Hermit alluded to. I think public views of the whole gay thing have shifted significantly in the last ten years, to the point where commercial sponsors probably wouldn't bay an eyelid any more. And a good thing too...

They're only interested in the bottom line.

If he can shift their goods, they wouldn't care if he was a cannibal.
You're right, it's the public who don't care much any more.

I've never understood how endorsement works. Straight or gay, black or white, why the fuck would I buy something just because some swimmer lets them use his name?
But people do.
I once had a Wally Hammond autographed cricket bat. But that was 55 years ago, and it was a present.