On January 28, an HBS Professor posted a blog post that called into light the “shady” practices of, until recently, billion dollar digital media company Blinkx.

The blog post accused Blinkx of utilizing advertising techniques that users do not like which ultimately ends up costing advertisers money. After his post, Blinkx dropped $400 million in market cap…nearly 1/3rd of their value.

The professor does disclose that a portion of his blog post was prepared at the request of an unnamed client.

This is a prime example of how companies can utilize the technology of today to wage warfare on other individuals and businesses. Who is to say Google isn’t the unnamed client of the professor? With one blog post, they have severely damaged a huge competitor and potentially cost investors around the world their lives savings. This perfectly emphasizes the power of a blog in todays environment.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-31/hbs-professor-writes-blog-post-u-dot-k-dot-stock-loses-390-million