I use a number of pages that I've customized to receive information about cosmetic medical centers, technologies and companies.

There's always one or two totally lame press releases that come up from clinics who don't really have anything to say and are trying to use the PR listing services to bump up thier search engine rankings.

Here are a couple of examples just today:

• AcuMedSpa Holdings, Inc. Appoints New Board Member
• AcuMedSpa Holdings, Inc. Announces Corporate Updates
• Lake Forest Plastic Surgery in Chicago Launches Redesigned Web Site

Now I don't mean to pick on AcuMedSpa or Lake Forest Plastic Surgery. They're just trying to increase their rankings and that's something that every medical center should be looking to do. But there are better ways than creating drivel that can never be consumed and were never designed to be read.

Press releases are a relic of the 80's and very nearly useless compared to what can now be done with content. Most businesses still release them but the benefit is negligible and is generally only read by the person that the release is about. Who the hell cares. It's a waste of time and money that could be better spent on actually getting in front of potential patients. The opportunity cost for this stuff far outweighs the benefit and is usually promoted by those who don't have any ideas of their own. Everybody else does it so we should too.

Ah, I rant. It's not all bad of course. There are some minor benefits but it's not the best way to get the rankings you actually want. (The very first thing that I'd suggest that you do is run a free report on your web site to see where you currently are.)

If you're sending out drivel and calling it newsworthy, please stop. It's killing me.