Press Releases: Authoritative Source or Content to Be Manipulated?

This post was inspired by an announcement I came across on a web marketing forum focused on SEO—that is, everything related to search engines, with Google at the center.

The announcement discussed a commercial partnership between the forum community and a website dedicated to distributing press releases. Nothing unusual so far. Since the early days of FullPress.it—which I founded in 1999 and which has since evolved into a digital magazine covering technology—digital platforms for press releases have multiplied. These projects have thrived thanks to SEO strategies and the rise of accessible, open-source technologies, often combined with an endless stream of AdSense (Google advertising).

Some in the SEO world praise these initiatives, while others see them as unidentified flying objects—completely foreign to the core principles of communication. But let me get back to what prompted this article. On the same forum, alongside the press release distribution offer, there was mention of an “added value”: the ability to change the title and text of the press release. Why is this considered added value, you might ask—especially if you don’t live and breathe SEO? The answer is simple: by tweaking the title and parts of the text before submitting the release to various online platforms, the content appears unique to search engines, particularly Google. This way, Google’s duplicate content filter—which is so important for those of us who create and value original content—can be “tricked.”

At this point, though, I have to ask: why call a manipulated text a press release if it no longer has anything to do with the press? I’d like to remind everyone that a true press release must always be drafted as a unique document by a journalist or communicator; it represents the official voice of a company. It is created by the press, for the press. When you distribute multiple versions of a release, you lose not only its originality (as a singular, authoritative document) but also its credibility. The importance of the press release is well known among journalists and communication professionals—it is considered a “source,” often the reference point for verifying the authenticity of news. Yet, in certain corners of the digital world, this seems to be of little concern. As the saying goes in perfect Italian style: where there’s a rule, there’s always a workaround.