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Avatar Went Hot: February 14, 2008 - 7:55 am
Posted By: daveshap 144 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.computerworld.com)
Category: Other Search Marketing
I say 'controlling my message,' you say 'gaming the system'
9 Comments     

Comments

from Doubleohd 144 days ago #
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Kudos on the post.  It's something we all need to think about and decide if we want to take part.

from FionnD 144 days ago #
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I commented on this on my blog http://www.fionndownhill.com/2008/02/12/online-reputation-management-ethical-or-not/.   My advice is stick to solid business ethics and follow your gut.  If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck and so on.

from CarrieHill 144 days ago #
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I think it is a very valid point.  I do some reputation management for our resort and vacation rental clients - and one of my mantras is - "I can't make it go away until you FIX it!"  There is no amount of PR spin that can hide a truly miserable buisiness or poor business model - although there are those that try - for $29.99 per item I'm told :)

Great piece!
~Carrie

from AccuraCast 142 days ago #
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What about managing damaging posts by bitter ex-employees? We did that for a client, an I don't think that is necessarily unethical. So others though have asked to do rather dodgy reputation management, which we politely turned down as it went against our own principles.

from BrettFromTibet 142 days ago #
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Search engines put people in a precarious position where anyone can anonymously make comments that will visibly go on your "permanent record." Unlike credit records or criminal records, there is no real editorial control or official process for having inaccurate information corrected.

I think that people have the right to try and improve how they are portrayed in the search results and there there is nothing unethical about increasing the visibility of positive and accurate information about a person or brand. I don't buy into the thinking that says link buying or keyword stuffing is "unethical SEO" - it's just SEO that goes against Google's business agenda. As a search marketer, I don't believe that optimizing true information to appear in the search results is "unethical." It's what we all do for a living.

And people certainly have the right to monitor (another key part of online reputation management) what others are saying about them and respond appropriately.

I've recently seen a case where a businessman's direct competitor has taken to bashing his product and personal reputation in the search results, and he is being very spiteful and unprofessional about it (calling names, posting his phone number and home address). I think that what the competitor is doing is "unethical."

Other examples where reputation management is needed:

  • an ex-employee is making inaccurate, defamatory claims as revenge or retaliation
  • the person themselves made heated comments or posts in the past that they want to put behind them
  • there are multiple brands / people of the same name and one wants to avoid confusion and dominate
  • an extortion site like RipOffReport encourages anonymous bashing as a means of making a profit

If Google has the right to maintain a database about us that can contain any information, with no editorial controls or human review... people have a right to try and represent themselves in a positive light and not be stigmatized by anonymous and libelous comments. It's just marketing.

Yes, there are some shady people in need to reputation management services. Like FionnD said, you need to decide what campaigns to work on and lend your talent to on a case-by-case basis.

If someone is really dishonest or unethical or they are running an ongoing scam.. all the online reputation management in the world won't be able to stop the truth from entering and permeating the search / social media landscape and online conversations.

from graywolf 142 days ago #
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ya know ya really have to wonder about those companies they mention for example repuation defender I've ranked top 10 for their name for like a year and half, and it's took me about 15 minutes worht of time

from AccuraCast 141 days ago #
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Lol @ Graywolf

Nice one! Someone ought to teach all these cowboys a lesson! They manage to give the entire industry a bad rep and make life tougher for the rest of us.

from BrettFromTibet 141 days ago #
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gray-wolf :

dude, I'll give you $29.95 per item to rank assorted pages for me!

from crazycat 138 days ago #
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Good article. At least, we know if we go beyond to what is required with reputation management, what is ethical and not.


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