Blake Cahill gets it exactly right when he says that social media is playing a larger role than every before in our lives. The article says that social networking takes up 11% of the time that people spend online these days, which is a powerful driver of traffic. In December of 2009 Facebook had over 112 million visitors. This kind of traffic can be a game changer in the delicate world of search engine results.

Unfortunately, as social media has become more prevalent in the lives of consumers and a more important tool for businesses, it has become much more difficult for companies to effectively manage. Digital communications channels have multiplied, and the amount of social media data available in 2010 – from tweets to blogs to customer reviews – is already huge. This customer feedback treasure trove continues to grow exponentially, meaning that companies interested in monitoring and leveraging such data (and that should be most) need to invest significant planning and resources into their social media strategies.

This is absolutely true. Web libel will only continue to increase as social media’s importance does.

http://www.information-management.com/newsletters/social_media-10017688-1.html

One of the newest social networking websites to break onto the scene is Unvarnished. The site, which has yet to move out of beta testing, is attracting a lot of attention. However, for a site that is focused on online reputation, the site sure does have a bad reputation itself. This is as interesting as it is ironic. The article below is written by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark:

People can write whatever they want about you, and vice versa. They do have some controls around that, and maybe that’ll be enough. Might work, given what I’ve seen in fifteen years of customer service. People do look out for each other.  It’ll probably depend on having enough people looking at reviews, to overwhelm any disinformation.

I hate to join the choir–but it sounds like Unvarnished is just an awful idea. All too often in the brand reputation management industry we see the negative effects of anonymous commenting.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/newmark/detail??blogid=67&entry_id=60586

We have known for a long time that hiring managers use the Internet to look up information on their job applicants. Microsoft has done another survey called Online Reputation in a Connected World with over 1100 hiring managers and HR professionals in Germany, France, the UK, and the US.

“Now,” it states, “recruiters can easily and anonymously collect information that they would not be permitted to ask in an interview, and the survey found that recruiters are doing just that.”

Among the more surprising survey findings: 75 percent of U.S. recruiters say their companies have formal policies in place that require hiring personnel to research applicants online. That figure drops to 48 percent for U.K.-based hiring managers and 21 percent for both the German and French counterparts.

It should be interesting to see whether any legislature moves to make a law forbidding this. It would be very hard to police/report, so I doubt it. Still, it is something job applicants should be aware of. Their Internet reputation can tell employers all sorts of information that they didn’t want known.

http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=374699407

Craig Newmark is the Internet-pioneer and creator of Craigslist. He was one of the first people to see the profitability of the Internet and put it to good use. Gigaom.com did an interview with Mr. Newmark and were able to get him on an incredible interesting and pertinent topic: The question of who to trust online.

He talked about “reputation and trust ruling the web, just the way it does in real life,” and how he was looking to big players such as Google, Facebook and Amazon as the kinds of entities that would have the scale to handle such a distributed trust or reputation management network.

That’s certainly an eye for the future, but I’m not sure it’s something we’re going to see anytime soon. We have no reputation counter in real life, why would we need it online? Still–the idea of a network of trust is appealing, especially for those who have had contact with online scammers and the like. It seems like search engines handle web libel problems just fine to me.

http://gigaom.com/2010/03/18/craig-newmark-on-the-webs-next-big-problem/?utm_source=gigaom&utm_medium=navigation

Every month we get new numbers from ComScore and Hitwise concerning the direction and momentum of Google, Bing, Yahoo, and all of the other major search engines. Well the new numbers are in, and it seems that in February Bing made steady gains while Yahoo slipped. Depending on whether you depend upon ComScore or Hitwise’s numbers, Google either gained slightly or held steady.

Hitwise’s data should give Google execs plenty to ponder. Microsoft’s massive marketing push for Bing appears to be paying off. There’s no reason to assume that Bing’s advance will stall, particularly if Redmond succeeds in its aggressive foray into mobile search.

This could have a massive effect on the brand reputation management industry, which may have to start contending with more than one dominant search engine. If Bing becomes competitive with Google, and uses formulas which are very different for determining search rankings, the job will be made that much more difficult for those in the industry.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/191237/bing_gains_again_should_google_worry.html

Ford Motor Company has been struggling to stay competitive in the automotive market for many years now. One can trace their decline back to a corresponding rise for General Motors. For the first time, though, since 1998, Ford Motor Company is beating General Motors in monthly sales.

Ford deliveries jumped 43 percent to 142,285 vehicles compared with 141,951 for GM. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company hadn’t topped GM in domestic sales since a strike idled the biggest U.S. automaker almost 12 years ago, and the last time before that was during a 1970 walkout, based on Ford data.

Ford beating GM for only the third time since 1970 is pretty sad. Especially when we consider the fact that the 1970 victory was caused by a GM walkout and this month was likely the result of backlash against GM being taken over by the U.S. Treasury. GM will need to combat this newest story and frame it not as a trend, but as an anomaly. A competent corporate brand reputation campaign could help.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-02/ford-u-s-sales-win-is-first-since-1998-as-gm-shuffles-leaders.html

The advent of the Internet has given customers the power to control interactions between them and businesses. Part of this evolution of brand control from the business to the customer has been Yelp. For those who don’t know, Yelp is a website which allows customers to review businesses and post their reviews online for all to see.

But these days, many owners are acutely concerned about their online reputations and are offering disgruntled customers freebies, do-overs and other incentives to reverse harsh critiques on websites such as Yelp and Citysearch, industry observers say.

This is extremely common today, in an age where a disgruntled and unsatisfied customer can get on their iPhone and log a disastrous review from inside the store. No time to cool off, no distance with which to consider the situation, just immediacy and dissatisfaction. Of course, the corresponding development is that businesses have been far more careful about delivering good services and solid products. Those who don’t will have to rely on web reputation management to fix their brand–which will be much more difficult.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-reviews26-2010feb26,0,5795837.story

Practical ECommerce is a website which keeps up with the interests of online merchants. I was interested to find some commentary on their website concerning Online Reputation Management. The article is short, well-informed, and on the money, I couldn’t have written it better myself.

So, how are customers finding you in the first place? Google and Bing are constantly readjusting search algorithms, and increasingly sourcing consumer-generated content from a multitude of resources including blogs, blog comments or online portals. This includes the good with the bad and first impressions can be everything. There is no doubt this will have a significant impact on online reputation management for businesses.

The article says a lot more of worth about brand reputation management, you should read it if you have time. It is well worth a read.

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/blogs/post/645-It-s-a-reputation-jungle-out-there-

Toyota just keeps accumulating bad press–who is their PR guy anyway? Apparently 34 deaths since 2000 have resulted Toyota’s accelerator problems, according to consumer data. This is not only a massive legal liability, it is the worst sort of publicity a company can get. Contrary to the old adage, “No press is bad press”, there is such a thing as bad press. If bad press exists, this is it.

In the past three weeks, consumers have told the government about nine crashes involving 13 alleged deaths between 2005 and 2010 due to accelerator problems, according to a NHTSA database. The latest reports are in addition to previous complaints from consumers that alleged 21 deaths from 2000 to the end of last year.

This just goes to show–putting out faulty products will catch up with you. Eventually, you will need search reputation management to fix the problem.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jwhsZGkLiVy8vjdii7LLsWETrT3AD9DSUS200

Toyota is this month’s Reputation Management Example. Every month or so a large and recognizable company makes a major mistake that significantly effects their image. So every month we individuals who are interested in online reputation management trot out that company in order to prove a point. This is that time and Toyota is that company. Their “sticky accelerator” problem has caused untold damage to their reputation, both online and offline. The recall of eight Toyota models is something that isn’t going to go away anytime soon. However, it seems as if Toyota has been proactive in protecting its online reputation by communicating effectively with customers and media. Some search reputation management would certainly do them some good.

Senior communicators have been Twittering and blogging like crazy to fill the information vacuum and take control of the escalating situation. Websites and call centres have been established with information for worried Toyota customers. And US Chief Operating Officer Jim Lentz talked directly to Toyota drivers in a video posted to YouTube.

Hopefully Toyota has an online reputation management plan in store.

http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2010/02/04/12660-can-toyota-be-successful-in-brand-damage-limitation-