The Conservative party yesterday implemented an audacious online ambush of Alistair Darling’s budget, with the aim of buying up Google keywords and directing internet users to its “live rebuttal” of the chancellor’s speech.

The Tories plan was to buy up budget-related Google keywords as the chancellor mentions them in his speech from 12.30pm, in an online advertising campaign the opposition dubbed a “live rebuttal” of the government’s economic plan for the coming year.

Their strategy was so that when web users entered budget-related keywords into Google’s search engine, they were instead directed towards online ads for the Conservatives. These ads in turn linked them to the Conservative party website and their response to Darling’s budget.

“We understand that it’s important for us to serve up our views in different formats, and Google is one of the first places people go to when trying to find information on a given subject,” - says the shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt.

“Gordon Brown’s budgets are notorious for not revealing what is in the small print, so we will be using Google pay-per-click to help people see the real impact of the budget on their family finances. This is a perfect example of how political parties should be using the internet – to present their arguments to the public and help inform the debate.“

Article source: The Guardian Online, 22/04/2009.