Facebook admits anti-Google PR campaign

The disclosure is the latest sign of the increasing rivalry between Facebook and Google. Both Facebook and Google have come under fire from privacy campaigners for the amount of personal data they collect and retain online.

Burson-Marsteller contacted US newspaper reporters and opinion-piece writers with a view to securing coverage on Google’s alleged use of personal information from Facebook and other social networks.

Its tactics came to light after a blogger posted an email conversation online that revealed how Burson-Marsteller director John Mercurio tried to convince him to write an article questioning Google's privacy practices.

In the email allegedly sent by the PR executive, Mercurio outlines the features of Google's new feature, Social Circles. He claims Google is failing to ask permission from individuals who will have their profiles and personal data shared in the new network, and offers to assist writing the article.

In a statement Burson Marsteller said, "Now that Facebook has come forward, we can confirm that we undertook an assignment for that client.

The client requested that its name be withheld on the grounds that it was merely asking to bring publicly available information to light and such information could then be independently and easily replicated by any media. Any information brought to media attention raised fair questions, was in the public domain, and was in any event for the media to verify through independent sources.

Whatever the rationale, this was not at all standard operating procedure and is against our policies, and the assignment on those terms should have been declined. When talking to the media, we need to adhere to strict standards of transparency about clients, and this incident underscores the absolute importance of that principle."

Facebook could not be contacted at the time of press.