When SEO Goes Too Far: How a Contest Hijacked the Name ‘Flumberico’

When SEO Goes Too Far: How a Contest Hijacked the Name ‘Flumberico’

When a group of digital marketers launched an SEO competition earlier this year, the goal was to test their ability to manipulate search results for an invented keyword. The problem? The chosen keyword — “Flumberico” — wasn’t made up at all. It was the name of a rising alt-pop act from New York City.

Within days, thousands of automatically generated posts and dummy websites flooded the web, burying Flumberico’s music, tour information, and interviews beneath pages of SEO experiments.

“It felt like we disappeared overnight,” said Lila Maren, the band’s frontwoman.  flumberico official page “Even our verified profiles couldn’t compete with the volume of spam content that suddenly surrounded our name.”

The incident has sparked a broader conversation about the ethics of digital marketing and its impact on creative professionals. “Artists put their lives into building a name and a voice,” said Luke Fanders, Flumberico’s manager and representative for Lightning Fast Records. “When an algorithmic game erases that, it’s not just inconvenient — it’s harmful.”

Flumberico’s management team has filed formal requests with major search platforms and begun cleanup efforts to restore legitimate visibility. The group is also turning the experience into inspiration for new material exploring digital identity and authenticity in a hyper-connected world.

“This whole thing showed us that truth doesn’t always rise to the top of the feed,” said Maren. “But we’re still here — and we’re louder than the noise.”