Today’s Google is remarkably free of YorkTest sponsored links such as the one that we highlighted in our discussion of Which?, YorkTest and Cambridge Nutritional Sciences. The Google ad claimed: “Which? Magazine Report Says “Validated Scientific Test”" which is as blatant an example of quote mining as most people will ever encounter. The sponsored links have switched back to highlighting “Endorsed by Allergy UK”.
However, the YorkTest original story that quote mines and distorts the findings of the Which? investigation is still present on their website although it is no longer linked to from the home page and it has disappeared from their news listings.
This is all very unsatisfactory and it speaks volumes about the state of transparency in the relationship between YorkTest and the customers that it has and the customers that they are attempting to attract: see, e.g., the YorkTest information brochure that mistakenly implies that the YorkTest customer satisfaction audit was published in the BMJ. All too often, there is a schism between what the research division of a company is happy to claim and what the PR representatives want to advertise (see Dr Dave Gorski for an excellent discussion of the the recent revelations about Merck’s ADVANTAGE seeding trial which is an egregious example of this split).
Related Reading
You and Yours on Which? Investigation into Food Intolerance Tests.
YorkTest, Hardman & Hart: there’s a difference between the BMJ and Nutrition and Food Science.
Which?, YorkTest and Cambridge Nutritional Sciences Ltd.
1 Comment
August 26, 2008 at 10:43 pm
[...] Update on Which?, YorkTest and Selective Quoting in Google Sponsored Links « Holford Watch: Pa… // August 26, 2008 at 6:25 pm [...]