Report: LA Utility Paid $200K In Public Funds To Boost Google Results

September 14, 2011 9:33 AM

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A Southern California water utility allegedly paid nearly $200,000 in taxpayer money to boost its profile on Google.

A newly-published report shows officials from the Central Basin Municipal Water District used public funds to buy positive press coverage.

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A screenshot of the fake website set up by the Central Basin Water District. (CBS)

The company paid “News Hawks Review” to post the articles on a professional-looking website that was indexed as a news site by the Web’s most popular search engine, according to the report.

Google has since removed the site from its search index.

Officials from the utility company have not commented on the report.

The Central Basin Municipal Water District serves an estimated 2 million customers across 24 cities and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

john rogan

wow…. eerie…. not right?? really
Astonished

WOW! Sure sounds unethical, using public funds for this. Is CBS sure it’s L.A. City? I mean after all, as the highest paid sitting city council, and the highest paid officials for DWP, they would NEVER do anything so unethical as to use the taxpayer money for this. . .Right?

(Please feel free to insert however much sarcasm you want into the above statement.)
astonished at astonished

@astonished

We know you can type. Can you read?

“The Central Basin Municipal Water District serves an estimated 2 million customers across 24 cities and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.”
Earl

That’s how Google makes money….cheats it’s way to the top and claims to be the best search engine instead of the most popular like Al Gore..