Opposition to direct web users entering budget-related keywords to live response on Conservative party's website
The Conservative party will attempt an audacious online ambush of Alistair Darling's budget today, buying up Google keywords and directing internet users to its "live rebuttal" of the chancellor's speech.
Budget-related Google keywords will be bought up by the Tories as the chancellor mentions them in his speech from 12.30pm, in an online advertising campaign the opposition is dubbing a "live rebuttal" of the government's economic plans for the coming year.
When web users put budget-related keywords into Google's search engine, they will be directed towards online ads for the Conservatives.
Each ad will direct the public to the Conservative party website, linking through to a Tory 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," said 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."
Last September the Conservative party launched its first official blog, the Blue Blog, as part of a big grassroots web push ahead of the next general election.
Source Mark Sweeney Guardian.co.uk