Benyamin Netanyahu, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak -- SEO and SMO in the Israeli Elections

Barak Obama did an amazing job of leveraging the Internet for fundraising and campaigning. Have the Israeli's taken note?

Comparing the Google Search engine results for the three candidates it is easy to see that one of the candidates is savvier than the others. We are using Google in our analysis since it is the most popular search engine in Israel. We used the search term which I believe (and Google also believes) most searchers use - full name for Livni and Barak and last name for Netanyahu. This is what Google also thinks as you can see in the screen shot below.

By the way, Google shows that Netanyahu searches are much more popular than the other candidates. Since there are many undecided voters this could be an indication that Netanyahu will win most of the undecideds. However, take this with a grain of salt since Google search volume stats are not that accurate. For more information on predicting outcomes based on web analytics, I recommend you read the book "Click" by Bill Tancer.

Google keyword search results for Livni, Netayahu & Barak

Google trends (not always accurate) also shows that Netanyahu is leading in searches and he is even leading in news coverage (lower graph). This is unusual since he is in the opposition and Barak and Livni are in the government where they can more easily make news. Either the graph is wrong or people in Israel are becoming very interested in Netanyahu.

Google Trends Chart: Netanyahu is blue, Livni is orange and Barak is red.
Netanyahu is pulling ahead on Google

Google.co.il Search Results in English and Hebrew

Ehud Barak

When searching for Ehud Barak on Google.co.il you get the results shown below:

• Wikipedia is no. 1
• Ehud Barak's site is no. 4
• His Facebook page is no. 6
• Twitter is no.8 but unfortunately it is not his—someone who doesn't like him put it up and called it "The Fake Ehud Barak".

Someone who doesn't like Ehud Barak has made a Twitter site for him.

Ehud Barak search results in Google.co.il, English. (Click to see full search engine result page)

Tzipi Livni

When searching for Tzipi Livni on Google.co.il you get the results shown below:

• Wikipedia is still no. 1
• Tzipi Livni's site is not on the first page
• Her Facebook page is no. 8
• Twitter is no. 9 but unfortunately it is not hers—it looks like the same person who doesn't like Barak doesn't like Tzipi and called it "The Fake Tzipi Livni". On the other hand the Bio is more objective saying: Foreign Minister and Kadima's candidate for Prime Minister. Compare this to Barak's bio: Not Ehud, not nice, not a leader—it is a play on Barak's campaign slogan: Not pleasant, not trendy, not nice

So far, not so good, however she has two advantages:

1. Perhaps the campaign team realized how bad the results are so the have an ad on the top with a link to her site
2. The US Department of State came to the rescue with two photos which are shown right at the top underneath the ad. Unfortunately the pages have been removed from the Dept of State

English search results for Tzipi Livni in Google.co.il. (Click to see full search engine result page)

Benyamin Netanyahu

• Netanyahu's site is number one—Netanyahu's two sites take the top 4 positions – Wikipedia has been moved down to slot no. 5– good news for the Netanyahu team.
• No need for the Netanyahu campaign to buy an ad on the search engines. However one of the other parties –Heyeruka – Meimad has an ad triggered by the Netanyahu search term. I wonder if Netanyahu's team knows about this or if they decided to ignore it.
• Netanyahu has 2 youtube results above the Wikipedia entry--smart move.
• Twitter is on the 6 th slot and it is run by the Netanyahu campaign
• His Facebook page is no. 8 and they were smart enough to make it a group where people can join without committing to being friends.

English search results for Binyamin Netanyahu in Google.co.il. (Click to see full search engine result page)

Google.co.il Results in Hebrew

Ehud Barak

• Ehud Barak is still outflanked by the Wikipedia—the Hebrew entry this time.
• His site is number 2 so there is improvement over the number 4 position in English
• Note that the left wing Meretz party is using Barak's name to trigger their ads
• The other results on the 1 st page are from the Knesset and newspapers

Search results for Ehud Barak in Google.co.il Hebrew. (Click to see full search engine result page)

Tzipi Livni

• In Hebrew her site made it to the 1 st page, so she didn't need an ad as she had in the English results. However it only made it to the 3 rd result—outflanked by the Hebrew Wikipedia entry and the Maariv newspaper website.
• Fans have a couple of Youtube videos
• Other entries on the first page of Google include a forum, blogs, Knesset website and the Maariv newspaper again

Hebrew search results for Tzipi Livni in Google.co.il. (Click to see full search engine result page)

Benyamin Netanyahu

• Netanyahu's web site is number one and two also in Hebrew – this time with site links
• They also have a supporters website and the twitter site on the front page
• Additional results include newspaper articles and the Knesset website

Search results for Binyamin Netanyahu in Google.co.il Hebrew. (Click to see full search engine result page)

Netanyahu Leads in Controlling Web Results

It is clear that Natanyahu's campaign is leveraging the web on a higher level than the other candidates. More of the sites his campaign controls appear on the 1st page search results. This lets him control the message.

Facebook appeared in all the English search results but not in any of the 1st page Hebrew Google results. Twitter however appeared also in Hebrew for the only candidate who is using it. It is not too late to start twittering.

One piece of advice to all the hopefuls – All 3 candidates are overlooking one search result that they may be able to influence. The Knesset website appears on the 1st page of all three candidates search results. They should review the Knesset page they appear in, and improve it if possible.

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