The latest Business Week article, “Web Attack“, looks at how you should monitor your web reputation and steps you can take to try and respond to negative reviews, blogs and forums, etc. Reputation monitoring and management is a vital tactic for any company (or individual) interested in what the web has to say about them, but it’s important to know that “engaging” your critics does not mean using an au

Now that E-consultancy is fully on my radar - and in my inbox - I’m impressed by the amount of free content that comes out of this UK marketing resource.
Today, our readers can head on over to their site and pick up a free copy of their “Online PR Briefing“, which covers: What is Online PR?
Which department or agency should own Online PR?
SEO and Online PR
Importance of bloggers
Affiliates and Online PR
Brands and Forums We&#

We’ve already seen an increase in news related to online reputation management in the last few days, and now Wired magazine lists it as one of the top trends for 2007.
Their excellent article “The See-Through CEO” looks at how businesses are becoming more transparent with their communications and how consumers are wielding a lot of influence over your online brand equity.
“Online is where reputations are made now,” s

I thought we’d find some gems by keeping an eye on the blogs of our readers, and 97th Floor proves us right.
They reviewed Google search results for the companies that make up the Fortune 100 list and found that 29 of them have search listings that could hurt their brand.
While it’s not a shock to see Walmart, Exxon Mobile and Dell on the list, others are surprising, such as:
5.) State Farm Insurance - Two Sites one is “Consumer

Back in January, we mentioned that Pronet Advertising had an online reputation monitoring tool, Serph, in open beta. Well, they don’t anymore. Cameron Olthuis has announced that Serph left beta today.
I thought I’d give it a whirl. I got 23 results for my full name. Number 21 and 22 were the first results from Marketing Pilgrim itself. Two of the top ten results are from domains that look like random strings of letters and number

Following up on the recent news, suggesting many recruiters use search engines to pre-screen job candidates, business social network Viadeo reports 20% of employers find information about candidates online and 59% are influenced by what they find.
As we pointed out, sharing your drunken exploits on MySpace, could come back to haunt you.
Examples of online information that has been shown to create negative information include MySpace pages that re

One of the most common features you’ll find in social networks such as LinkedIn, is the ability to recommend others and effectively vouch for their credibility.
SoWeSay is a new social networking site that focuses purely on peer review and recommendation, allowing you to create profiles, rate and review anyone you know or encounter online and offline.
Ok, we’ll have to watch this one. On one hand, I like the idea of being able to

Computer World takes a look at how a lack of a web presence can hurt a candidate’s chance of getting a job interview, let alone the actual job. While we’ve probably all tried “Googling” a date or famous celebrity, employers are using the search engines to “check you out” before they schedule a meeting with you.
In a 2006 survey by executive search firm ExecuNet in Norwalk, Conn., 77 of 100 recruiters said they

This is sad to read. It appears Anna Nicole Smith paid a lot of attention to the search results associated with her name.
“She always had a laptop and she Googled her name, and she would read these articles that spoke badly about her,” said the bodyguard, who goes by the name of Big Moe. “She was just, was sad about that.”

It’s amazing how, in just a few short years, the public perception of someone can be greatly influenced by what appears on the first page of Google.

If you’re anywhere near Raleigh on Wednesday February 21st, be sure to drop by the Exploris center for a TIMA panel on Social Media Marketing/Reputation Management.
I’ll be joined by Lenovo’s David Churbuck, Crossroad PR’s Cindy Akus and moderator Nathan Gilliatt. It’s an informal panel discussion, so we’ll have plenty of opportunities to answer your questions

Over at Pronet Advertising, Cameron tells us that “Serph’s Up”.
Serph is a new reputation monitoring tool, they have been working on for a few months, that was previously in a closed beta. As of today, they’re making the beta more readily available for anyone looking to try it out.
It’s a welcome addition to the toolbox of anyone looking to track their online reputation, but it’s somewhat basic in it’s offering

I’ve noticed a new referrer in my Google Analytics stats, over the past few days. DoTheRightThing.com has been sending some decent visitor numbers to the Yahoo story we ran a couple of weeks back.
I headed over to the site to see who they are and discovered a digg-like community that rates companies positively or negatively based upon their actions.
The company was founded in 2006 by Ryan Mickle and Rod Ebrahimi and it appears their goal is to provide a platform of accountability for big businesses.
GoDaddy, Wal-Mart and Starbucks are among the current companies under the social microscope

Jennifer Laycock explains why not all online reputation management services are created equal. She looks at one firm that claims to “DESTROY” negative content, for just $29.95. A closer look at the fine print reveals a nightmare waiting to happen.
You authorize us to take such action on your behalf, and to identify ourselves as acting on your behalf…The Customer also acknowledges and accepts the risk that Reputationxxxxxx, Inc., may not succeed in effecting the removal and/or alteration of any Internet content about the Customer…You recognize that such contact may have unpredictable side-effects, including but not limited to negative responses from others.

Cool, so for thirty bucks, you’ll create a bigger mess than I’m already in? Where do I join?
Do yourself a favor, don’t touch any reputation management service that costs less than a good steak

There is a reason that smaller agile companies and entrepreneurs will always have a place on the web. Big corporations just don’t get it sometimes.
Take for example Apple’s iPhone launch. Both Cingular and Apple where in the perfect position to dominate the free market for the product. After all, they are the source and in the end, it all comes from them

This is another post in the “IE 7 Sucks” series. This time, I’ve been poking around at data that suggests IE 7 really is crap, and it’s not just readers of Marketing Pilgrim, that think so.
Taking a look at Opinmind, we learn that only 24% of bloggers have a positive sentiment towards Internet Explorer, compared to 69% positive with Firefox.
Switching to Technorati, we discover 632 bloggers have stated “internet explorer sucks“, compared to 274 who think the same of Firefox.
Using Google Trends, it’s clear that more people are looking to download Firefox, compared to IE

I wasn’t going to share my thoughts on Microsoft sending out free laptops to some A-list bloggers. I figured it was a dumb move by Microsoft, without first seeking the permission of the blogger. But now Microsoft has made a bad situation worse by asking the bloggers to return the laptops after they “review” them

The internet marketing world appears to be winding down for Christmas, so news is on the lighter side. However, I’ve dug deep and come up with these hot items.

Lee Odden has discovered his Top Rank Blog has been permanently banned on Digg, just because it posts SEO content. What the…?  Lee wasn’t doing anything wrong, apparently some diggers have enough clout to get a site a pre-emptive ban.
Do you know what SearchRank’s David Wallace wants for Christmas? No it’s not a Playstation 3 (although I am sure he wouldn’t say “no”)