Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, April 20, 2011 3:08 pm

I had a great time talking with Carla Wilson and Mary Motz recently about Online Reputation Management. Thanks again for having me on your show. What an interesting conversation we had, both on and off the air. You can check out all of their podcasts at the Online Biz Insider site.

Here is the link to my guest appearance.

We talked about the basics of Online Reputation Management and what you can do to protect yourself and your business online.

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, March 31, 2011 10:43 am

Why can’t Google just stick to search? I would rather see Google invest their massive funds and brainpower making search better and better rather than trying to integrate social media into its results. With the announcement this week of its new +1 feature, Google is once again wading into the search and social waters.

What is +1 and how will it work? Essentially, +1 will function a lot like the “Like” feature on Facebook and external web sites that include Facebook’s “Like” buttons. The feature is being slowly rolled out, but eventually, we will all start seeing +1 impact our search results. Mashable has a great write up on how the feature will work:

“Google defines this action as a “public stamp of approval,” and it is exactly that. When you +1 something, your name becomes associated with that link “in search, on ads, and across the web,” according to the company. It also shows up in a feed on your Google Profile, which is required to use the product.”

You can read the full story at Mashable.

Google seems to really be trying to become a social hub and not just a search destination. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want my search results junked up with sites people in my network “like”. I spend a lot of time online and search is a big part of what I do every day. Having to wade through this type of stuff will not improve my search experience. To use the service, you’ll need to have a Google account, be logged in and if you want to start adding your +1 endorsements to sites, you will need to complete your public Google Profile. So, there are some barriers to this becoming the de facto state of search. I have a Google account, but I do not have a Google Profile and I generally do not perform the majority of searches while logged in to Google.

Maybe I’m a little old fashioned, but I like my search to be search and my social media to be social. I wonder if we will start seeing less relevant results in search as marketers figure out ways to game this system by incentivizing +1 activity. Google has already been including more and more social content in its results sets – read more here.

Doing the amount of search I do for clients when working on competitive intelligence and SEO, I am very aware of what the results include. Sadly, the quality of results returned for the average search has not improved in the past 2 years. In fact, in many cases, the results returned on the first page of Google are pretty crappy. It has gotten a little better since their most recent two algorithm updates, but the nature of what you see on the first page for a lot of search terms is markedly different from the landscape of even 18 months ago. Is this a good or bad thing? Who knows. It is what it is and we’ll all be working to do our best for clients with whatever the current landscape and technology requires!

It certainly has implications for not only SEO strategy, but also for your social media and reputation management strategies.

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, March 28, 2011 4:08 pm

Just when you thought you had a handle on your online reputation, along comes the site AboutEveryone.com. Haven’t heard of it yet? I suspect in the very near future, you will.

What is this new site, you ask? Well, it allows people to post anything they want about you, based on your Facebook profile link – completely anonymously. Let me repeat that – anyone can post anything absolutely anonymously about you on this site and the link points back to your Facebook profile page. Even if you have your profile privacy settings set pretty high, most of us still allow “everyone” to see our name and profile picture. So, any nasty comments posted on this site will at a minimum link to your actual profile page and show your name and photo, so people will know it is about you.

The site is in beta now. According to AboutEveryone.com’s About page, don’t expect them to help when someone posts awful, damaging or untrue statements about you:

“AboutEveryone is not the author of the posts that appear on the site. Rather, AboutEveryone is the provider of an interactive computer service. As such, AboutEveryone is immune from liability arising from content posted by users. 
Operators of Internet services are not to be construed as publishers and thus not legally liable for the words of third parties who use their services. 

AboutEveryone is still in beta. You will have more opportunities to remove content [in] the future.”

Not sure what those opportunities to remove content will be in the future, but I sure hope they provide some mechanism where you can remove defamatory comments or I can see this site getting seriously out of control. The ramifications for your online reputation are potentially catastrophic. There are a few nice comments posted, but the majority are not.

See for yourself…

We will be keeping an eye on this as it develops.

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, March 8, 2011 2:19 pm

Have you Googled yourself or your organization lately? If you haven’t, you definitely should. Being aware of what’s out there is the first line of defense in the rapidly expanding world of online reputation management.

First, the good news…

You probably won’t find anything that is particularly problematic. But, the full list of just what is out there about you individually and your organization can be really eye opening! You should see certain results pop up, both for you and your company. For individuals, you should expect to see results such as:

• Your bio page on your organization’s web site
• Your LinkedIn Profile
• Your Google Profile
• Your Facebook Page (depending on your privacy settings)
• A personal blog, if you have one and blog under your actual name
• Other references to you on the web, including places where you might be listed as a member, volunteer, sponsor or board member
• Links to other social media sites you participate in (depending on your privacy settings)

For your organization, if you’ve done a good job with SEO, you should expect to see results such as:

• Your company’s web site
• Google Places page
• Local links in Bing or Yahoo
• Your company’s Facebook page
• Listings on directory or local search sites, such as Yelp, Insiderpages, Yellowpages.com, etc.
• Links to employee or board member LinkedIn Profiles
• Other references to your organization on the web, including places where your company might be listed as a member, sponsor or contributor

But, what else might be lurking out there?

Sometimes, the answer to that question can be a little horrifying. Surprise results can range from the relatively benign – links to another person with the same name, which can create confusion, to the downright panic-inducing – finding an entire blog or web site dedicated to excoriating you or your business – and everything in between.

It is a little disconcerting to think about, but pretending that the information isn’t out there, really is not a viable approach to protecting and managing your online reputation. It is a fairly regular occurrence to find severely outdated or incorrect information about you or your organization. It might surprise you to know that Google has very little interest in verifying the “truth” of content they index. It is important to realize that the truth according to Google, is for all intents and purposes, considered to be the truth, period.

So, what can you do?

Knowledge is power and the first step in starting to address any misinformation in Google results is knowing that it is out there. We suggest that clients make it a regular practice to Google themselves and their organizations at least once a quarter (or more frequently if you sell directly to the public) so you know what’s out there. These days, you have to assume that at least 75% of potential customers or employees will Google your company at some point in their decision-making process. You need to know what they will see so you can be prepared to discuss it and professionally correct any misinformation you’ve found.

Preventive maintenance when managing your online reputation is always a good idea. If you discover a major issue in your searching, it may be time to bring in a professional to help mitigate the damage and start the hard work of repairing your online reputation.

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, January 27, 2011 11:33 am

Facebook is in the news again this week with the announcement of its new “Sponsored Stories” ad product. This on the heels of the rollout and subsequent rollback of granting applications access to users’ home addresses and cell phone numbers. So, what is this latest “feature” and how might it impact you and your Facebook habits?

In a nutshell, this new feature would take various actions, such as Liking, posting a comment on a fan page or checking in and turn them into ads. The program is being piloted with a small set of advertisers, but Facebook has made it clear that this “service” will be available to any company in the future. What does this mean, in real terms, for you, the user? Say you’re at your local Starbucks and you check in. With this new feature, Starbucks could take your check in and create an ad that would appear in your friends feed, with your name and profile photo beside it. You don’t opt-in to this and you can’t opt-out. There are no parameters for how often a company could use your actions or for how long.

Facebook’s attitude seems to be that they are only highlighting information that you chose to share anyway. Which, in a way is true. But, they also fail to see the nuance here, as they seem to do so often when it comes to users’ data and posts. Me, taking an action, such as Liking a company has historically shown up on my profile page and in my friends’ news feeds as a single line – Julie Friedman Bacchini likes Company X, for example. I’m ok with that, I chose to Like Company X. By Liking them though, am I giving them  permission to use me in an ad for Company X as an endorser? I don’t think so, and at a minimum, I should have a choice about that usage of my name.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out…

You can read more about this on:

• CNET
• CNN/Money
• Mashable (Editorial)
• AdAge
• Facebook (announcement video)

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, November 22, 2010 3:58 pm

If you pay close attention to Google – and most people probably don’t like I do – you may have noticed some changes in the way Google displays search results. The map has moved! It used to be in the main area of the page, right below the first three sponsored listings. Now, it is in the right column, above the column of paid listings and the locations on the map? They are now mixed in with the organic results in the main area of the page:

Google's new search results screenshot

What, if anything does this mean? It means different things to different users. For instance, for the average Google searcher, it probably doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot. You’ll still see a combination of paid/sponsored results, Google Places results (the map) and organic results. But for businesses and marketers, the change in how Google displays results is more significant.

Google is clearly trying to make its Places more important by taking up more space on the first results page. By making each Places listing it’s own quasi-organic search result, Google’s Places listings now account for a lot more of the results on page one of a Google search. The many local/review sites have been taking over the first page of Google’s results for the past couple of years – Yelp, InsiderPages, MerchantCircle, DexKnows, YellowPages, etc. and it seems that Google really wants a piece of that action.

What should you do for your business? Making sure you have created and/or claimed your Google Places page is great place to start. As these results are served more often and as search becomes more local every day, you’ll want to make sure you’re listed. How will this impact traditional SEO – the jury’s still out. It is definitely a topic we will be monitoring in the coming months! Stay tuned…

Comments (1)

By Neptune Moon, October 18, 2010 3:09 pm

Not to pile it on Facebook – I know it has been a topic of a lot of my posts, but when news of privacy issues breaks, it just isn’t something I can ignore. Especially knowing how many people use Facebook and how few actually understand how it really works.

I’m not opposed to Facebook, in fact, I find it quite useful to keep up with friends and family who live in different time zones! But I do believe that I, and all users, should be in complete control of the information we decide to post on the site. I am of the belief that whatever you decide to post online, you should inherently understand that you have a lesser “expectation of privacy” (to borrow a Law & Order term!) than you would, say having a face to face conversation with someone. I think we all accept that in exchange for the connectivity these types of programs offer us.

But, when things are happening behind the scenes, without our knowledge or opt-in consent that shares or potentially compromises our information, that is where I think the line must be drawn.

So what’s this week’s issue? Apparently, many of the uber popular apps in Facebook have been capturing personally identifiable information or users and sometimes of their friends and storing it and/or providing it to third party companies. As usual, the Wall Street Journal has a fantastic article on the topic today:

“Apps” are pieces of software that let Facebook’s 500 million users play games or share common interests with one another. The Journal found that all of the 10 most popular apps on Facebook were transmitting users’ IDs to outside companies.

The apps, ranked by research company Inside Network Inc. (based on monthly users), include Zynga Game Network Inc.’s FarmVille, with 59 million users, and Texas HoldEm Poker and FrontierVille. Three of the top 10 apps, including FarmVille, also have been transmitting personal information about a user’s friends to outside companies.

Read the full article here.

To Facebook’s credit, they are taking this revelation very seriously and seem to be making moves to curtail the practice and disable apps that violate Facebook’s privacy terms. In the meantime, now, as always, be thoughtful about what you post online, even if you have your privacy settings set at the highest level. It is ultimately up to you to manage what is even available to a site like Facebook.

Comments (1)

By Neptune Moon, June 24, 2010 9:15 am

There was a ruling in a major lawsuit between Google (owner of YouTube) and Viacom this week over copyright infringement. But the case is about more than simple copyright infringement in the video and online world – it brings up a much larger question. In today’s world where social media is bleeding into nearly all web entities, just who is ultimately responsible for what users post?

You can read more about the case itself here, but I think this is a really interesting question to consider. Google’s stance is basically that as long as they have a policy in place that specifically states that users may not post anything they don’t have the rights to post and if they take stuff down when notified by the copyright holder of an infringement, that is enough. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act states as much and was cited in the ruling.

But what about materials that are not copyright protected? What about user opinions or reviews that may cause damage to you or a third party? Where does the responsibility lie to monitor this type of posted material? As social media outlets continue to increase in usage and popularity, and as more and more sites add some type of commenting or user-based interactive elements to their web entities, this question will become increasingly important.

Having a clear Acceptable Use & Terms of Service policy is critical. Just as having a Privacy Policy is critical in protecting yourself if you collect any data from users, having a well thought out Acceptable Use & Terms of Service policy is a step you should not skip if you’re inviting users to comment and/or generate and post content. By having a clearly stated policy about what is permissible and what is not, you strengthen your ability to not only monitor, but also remove offensive, defamatory or otherwise problematic materials from your site(s).

Comments (3)

By Neptune Moon, June 21, 2010 10:51 am

It used to be that you only had to worry about your own web site(s) when it came to your online reputation… not so any more! Try doing a search for your business specifically or search for your type of business in your geographic area. You’ll likely be surprised by the results.

These days, search results returned include not only your web site and blog, but will often include a link to entities such as: Google Maps, Yelp.com, SuperPages.com, as well as many other locally or industry focused sites. Did you even know such things existed? Do you know if your business is listed?

These sites take it one step further too. They let people post reviews about your business, often with no verification that they are or were an actual customer of yours. To make matters even more complicated, people often wait weeks or months before posting a nasty review about your business. Good luck finding them to even try to rectify the issue!

So what is a business owner to do? Don’t we all have a million other things we’re already managing on a daily, weekly and monthly basis? How can you possibly get a grip on this brave new world? You can start by claiming your business on some of the major local web sites. If you have not claimed your business on Google, do it now! If you advertise in any of the yellow pages, make sure your online information is correct. If you serve the public, I’d recommend checking out Yelp and InsiderPages and see what, if anything people are saying.

Managing your online reputation is incredibly important. Especially today when more and more people are sharing their views and reviews via local web sites and social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Getting control starts with knowledge – find out where you’re already listed and claim your listings.