Catalyst online Search Marketing Blog

We at Catalyst always advise our clients to read their brand’s Wiki entry. Is it accurate?

Why? The Wikipedia listing is usually on the first page of the SERPs (search engine result page).

However, like anything a little knowledge can be dangerous. Perhaps that is what happened to Abbott and Astra Zeneca this summer.

Abbott: In a “Patients not Patents” press release it is stated Abbott Labs is a serial Wikipedia tamperer. “From one Abbott computer over 1,000 edits were made to Wikipedia.” Of course if it was simply updating the information, this would not be newsworthy.

Astra Zeneca: The original Wikipedia entry said: “Despite a general National Institutes of Health recommendation against its use in children or those under 18, as well as a known risk that teenagers taking the drug may be more likely to think about harming or killing themselves or to plan or try to do so, Seroquel is controversially marketed to parents of moody and irritable teenagers in magazines such as Parade Magazine and TV Guide.”

An Astra Zeneca employee changed it, deleting the first sentence and simply letting it read: Seroquel is controversially marketed to parents of moody and irritable teenagers in magazines such as Parade Magazine and TV Guide. The article goes on to say, “Not only is this edit questionable because it reduces the accuracy of the Wikipedia entry, but it violates the FDA’s fair balance regulations.”

The events that occurred this summer clearly indicates that we should be thinking about how we can minimize the risk employees will expose pharma company to potential FDA citations and product liability lawsuits due to their use of social media technologies.

Wiki Scanner is a tool that allows the user to see who has made an update to a Wikipedia entry. See what is going on with your brand at www.wikiscanner.virgil.gr