Texas Gov. Candidate Gets Blacklisted From Search for Hidden Terms

Here’s a lesson: If you’re running for governor, don’t load your Web site with hidden terms pertaining to rumors about your opponent’s sexuality. So it went in Texas, where U.S. Senator and gubernatorial candidate Kay Hutchinson saw her Web site get blacklisted from Yahoo and Google searches. The Web design firm she hired, Washington, D.C.-based ElectionMall, filled the site with search bait such as “rick perry gay,” alluding to unsubstantiated rumors about incumbent Governor Rick Perry’s sexuality. Hutchinson’s campaign claims the tool that generates the search terms was used to make ad-buying decisions, but has fired the firm and moved the Web site to another domain. In any case, the damage is done, which brings us to lesson number two: You can only hustle Google so much before it hustles back. [via Austin American-Statesman and Ars Technica]