Google, Bing and Yahoo are profiting from the BP oil spill as the besieged company fights to polish its oil stained image. Type “oil spill” in those search engines and BP appears at the top of the page. Search engine companies are collecting oil wealth when BP's stock plunge has investors questioning the future of a business flush with cash. Politicians frustrated with BP are adding to the pressure, demanding the business pay damages rather than dividends. Meanwhile, the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010 added up to as much as 125 million gallons and counting on day 52 of the disaster.
Article Resource: BP buys top oil spill search listings as BP stock price plummets By Personal Money Store
BP's fabricated oil spill search
Web users browsing for oil spill updates are in BP's PR crosshairs. USA Today reports that Google, Bing and Yahoo are accepting money from BP to help the company spin and withhold information about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico with top rankings for searches including the words "BP news," oil spill" and "oil spill claims". The store-bought links lead to a BP website featuring corporate versions of the oil spill response with press releases, photos and video. The oil spill live feed, and its view of the ruptured well overwhelming within the oil spill cap, is conspicuously missing.
BP stock price plummets
So far BP’s oil spill ploy with the search engine companies hasn’t helped its stock price. Political pressure from the U.S. government on BP for its failure to plan for the gulf oil spill catastrophe drove BP stock to its lowest point in seven years in London trading. BP stock is widely held by British pension funds and investors there are angered over the insistence of U.S. lawmakers that BP suspend dividends until the oil spill is cleaned up. The Associated Press reports that when asked if BP should cut its dividends to shareholders House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “I think it is appropriate for BP to be paying businesses in the Gulf. … They have a responsibility under the law to pay these damages. They made $17 billion last year. Maybe individuals who receive dividends have deeper pockets."House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the Associated Press that BP should take responsibility under the law to pay damages before paying dividends to individuals ! with deep pockets.
Citations
CNNMoney.com
usatoday.com
google.com/hostednews/ap/article
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