Kevin's View

Did you hear about this? Recently Dean Hunt with Dean Hunt received emails from someone claiming that he (Dean) should remove his blog from Google search because the blog was ranking higher then the e-mailers business website. Funny stuff, that has made the top news websites this past weekend.

——-Original Message——-

From: xxxxx xxxxxxxxx
Date: 12/8/2006 xx:xx:xx PM
To: Dean Hunt
Subject: DeanHunt.com Google Removal Request

Hello Dean,

My name is [edited] and I run [edited].com

I have been running the site for over two years and we have been ranked very highly for the search term [edited].

On Thursday morning I checked our google positions and your site is now above us for this term. I haev checked your blog and it has nothing to do with [edited], so I think it would be best all round if you remove your blog from google for this search term.

Please understand that we make our living from this, and you are just writing a blog that has nothing to do with [edited].

If you do not remove yourself from google for this search, then I will call them myself and have you removed.

I expect a reply soon.

Thankyou.

[edited]
[edited].com

From: xxxxx xxxxxxxxx
Date: 12/8/2006 xx:xx:xx PM
To: [edited]
Subject: Re: DeanHunt.com Google Removal Request

[edited],

Dean here from DeanHunt.com

I just received your e-mail. My first question would have to be… Are you serious?

I had to re-read your e-mail three times to make sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me!

Here is some more info that may help you understand my stance on this:

a) I have never attempted to rank for the search term [edited], I seem to rank fairly well for [edited], which I suppose is fairly similar. But if Google prefers my site to yours then perhaps you should be asking yourself why that is.

b) There is nothing I can do about removing myself for that search term, nor am I going to attempt to do anything. I have no information on my site related to [edited], so I am sure that the searchers will generally visit your site instead.

c) You can contact Google if you wish! I doubt you will get a serious reply though.

Perhaps instead of wasting your time with e-mails like this you could work on improving your web site instead?

Anyway, good luck with contacting google, if you do get a reply, I would love a copy of their e-mail. I have prepared a nice little place on my wall to hang it from.

Take care,

Dean


Bizarre Google Request Update
December 11th, 2006

Good morning,

You are probably aware that over the weekend my “Bizzare google request” story was featured on many major news sites on the net. It has been discussed on thousands of sites and forums and the response was so high that my server crashed on two occasions. (Current total = 45,000+ readers)

I am honestly amazed by the response! I only posted the first e-mail on here because I thought it was amusing, and I was genuinly surprised to see the attention that it received.

Anyway, I have spoken to some friends and my plan was just to let this all calm down and for me to get back to normal. But I have received another e-mail from him this morning, and if you guys find it half as funny as I do then it is surely worth posting.

However, this time I have NOT replied to the e-mail. Quite frankly I am lost for words with this guy, and I am losing my patience.

So what I would like you to do is to use the comments box in this article and tell me what you think I should reply with.

Here is his e-mail:

Dean,

Firstly, I have to admit that I was not impressed with the sarcastic nature of your reply.

Secondly, I am writing to let you know that I have contacted Google and am awaiting their reply.

You have to understand Dean that an online business should be higher in Google than a blog.

Don’t forget that Google is a business as well, they obviously make more money from other businesses than they do from blogs, so it is in their interest that I am higher than you for certain searches.

I have also contacted my lawyer about this issue, so you should expect a letter in the post very soon.

I expect a reply soon.

I honestly don’t know whether to just block his e-mails or keep playing with this guy. At times his attitude makes me laugh, but at other times he really frustrates me that he thinks he can bully people like this.

Amazingly, I have had e-mails from other webmasters who have had similar threats to this. So it appears that the larger sites are used to using bullying tactics. But these tactics will NOT work on the internet and they will NOT work on me!

He may have a good lawyer, but I have got a blog and quite frankly I am used to playing the underdog, so I don’t scare easily.

I look forward to hearing your replies for this e-mail. I am currently looking down the side of the sofa to see if I can find a prize for the best reply.

Dean