On the way home last night, Kevin pointed out an article in a copy of the Times that someone had left behind. One headline really caught my eye: 'Intel wipes Cornish traders off the map'. Sadly, I can't find the article online, which is a bit crap really, but the gist of it was that the Cornish town of Penryn is slowly disappearing from search results because 'Penryn' is the codename of one of Int*cough*el's new chips.
Since Friday, the town's online ranking has diminished from the top spot to third on a UK search using Google. Sites boasting historical and tourist information about the town have been superseded by websites about the microchips.
Businesses that have spent time and money ensuring their websites appear high up on the search engine's rankings have been pushed down the results – with only one now appearing in the top 10 on the all-important first page.
Search engine specialists have also warned that those local businesses advertising against search results for 'Penryn' could be priced out if Intel's chip suppliers start bidding for the word.
Kevin Pick-up, managing director of Truro-based search engine optimisation firm i-webmarketing, said: “This is going to be a huge problem for Penryn businesses.
“Although the chip is not even on the market yet, there's already a huge buzz, and web pages relating to the Intel Penryn are starting to displace local businesses in the search results. As people who search the internet rarely look past the first couple of pages of results, the Cornish websites will effectively disappear from search engines.”
Right now, a guide to Penryn appears to be third in Google.co.uk, but on Google.com, the results are already dominated by Intel. Of course, us bloggers have the power to save Penryn! That is, the Penryn in Cornwall, not the one in California… the one with Penryn AFC, Penryn Surgery, and Penryn Plastics, not the one 12 miles away from those chip designers in Folsom.
Apparently Chris Hogge, head of marketing for that chip company, “absolutely guarantee[s]” that Penryn won't be the product name for the chips when they are launched at the end of the year. Nah, it'll be something distinctive like the Core 3 Trio.
Meantime, I urge you all to save Penryn!
Comments on this entry are closed.