Online Public Relations Thoughts

This article on "negative search engine optimization" is another warning that anything used positively can also be used negatively. In this case, there is a move to use search terms to sabotage web sites. Note that the article says it is sometimes used for reputation management.

My colleague, Peter Shinbach, sent me this last night in relation to the new movie "Sicko." An account planner at Google is suggesting that health companies buy keywords to offset the impact of the movie.

This isn't new, but it is evolving. It is unclear how effective it is at the moment. I suspect that effectiveness varies by topic. For example, if one looks on Google for "Clinton," an advertisement for "McCain" pops up. (I just tried it and it did.)

Reputation management is getting more complex than ever.