Last week I posted about this guys story in connection to the changes Google made to their algorithm so that bad publicity won’t improve Google Ranks: Being Bad to Your Customers is Now Bad for Your Google Ranking
It looks like Borker’s campaign to gain more visitors through online reviews, good and bad, has given him more attention than he bargained for, and he’s been arrested. Borker told a reporter, “Borker told a reporter that securing many online reviews, regardless of what they say, is part of his strategy to generate business for his site.” The New York Times did an article on him after he harassed and threatened a customer. The incident also prompted Google to change their algorithm.
From CNBC.com:
“Vitaly Borker was charged with cyber-stalking, the making of interstate threats and both mail and wire fraud.
“Vitaly Borker, an alleged cyber-bully and fraudster, cheated his customers, and when they complained, tried to intimidate them with obscenity and threats of serious violence,” said Manhattan US Attorney Pheet Bharara in a press release. “Especially during this holiday shopping season, today’s arrest should send a message that we will protect online consumers and that victims of people like Borker are not alone.”
You can read the original article on the NYT’s site which came out a couple of weeks ago: A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web
