Burson-Marsteller PR Reps Caught Spreading Fake Google Stories

Their client remains a mystery

According to USA Today, Burson-Marsteller, a top-five PR firm, started a “whisper campaign” aimed at getting newspapers (including USA Today) to run stories about how an obscure Gmail feature, Social Circle, infringes on peoples’ privacy and violates FTC rules. But Google said that Social Circle lets customers make social connections using public and private connections across Google products without skirting privacy.

The campaign was spearheaded by Burson-Marsteller’s Jim Goldman, a former CNBC tech correspondent, and former political columnist John Mercurio on behalf of an unnamed client.

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