29 Top Brands Trashed in Google
Just as I was writing and thinking about how Google is a collective memory of your business, I got an IM with this article (I’m going to digg it). In the comments Dave Bascom says that companies can overcome negative search engine publicity. If they have loyalty built with their customers, they will actually trust the company more than what is written. He also says that people already have opinions so it doesn’t matter. I disagree. When I look for a job I look to see what has been said about a company. If it’s negative, I ask why. This is rather ironic for me as I write it.
Walmart, State Farm, Albertson’s, UPS, Kmart, Tyson…the list goes on. People have some rotten things to say.
Well, here it is: 29 Top Brands Trashed in Google.
So if you’ve been trashed, you’re not alone. In fact, I can’t imagine a well-known company that wouldn’t be. Now I wonder, what top brands have really good results? Who is trusted? Google itself? Johnson & Johnson?
5 Responses to “29 Top Brands Trashed in Google”
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March 30th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Same goes for religions. Search “Jew” on Google and you’ll find an apology from Google for “offensive search results.” The explanation is that their “search results are generated completely objectively and are independent of the beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google.” If Google isn’t taking responsibility for the accuracy of results (not that they could or should be expected to) then people probably shouldn’t rely on it for authoritative information on any keyword.
March 30th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
AMEN TO THAT!
Look, you can find negative stuff about Disneyland if you look hard enough from someone who has had a bad experience. It is unfair for companies that are legit and providing good services to let one idiot ruin their reputation, and thats why we created this post over at the 97th Floor Blog to get the word out! I just got done eating at Cafe Rio and I ventured away from the sweet pork (my usual) and got the beef, and I hated it, but I am not gonna rip Cafe Rio for one bad experience with all of the Yummy Pork Burritos I have ate! Thats really what this comes down to. Use some common sense. Thanks for the response!
March 31st, 2007 at 12:37 am
Hi Janet! The NewPR Wiki has a list of things, places, websites, etc. that every company should be monitoring: http://www.thenewpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage?pagename=WhatToMonitor.HomePage
March 31st, 2007 at 12:59 pm
I’ve wondered about the effect of affiliate marketing on this issue. People who have good things to say about companies often use affiliate links, which are blocked from the Google algorithms.
Conversely, people with gripes are very good about linking together gripes.
I suspect that the google algorithm favors criticism, and it disfavors companies with affiliate campaigns.
April 13th, 2007 at 8:01 am
My point was that the best way for companies to have a good reputation in the search engines is to actually build a good reputation so that there is more positive buzz than negative. Also, I wasn’t saying people don’t listen to negative criticisms they find online, but I think if someone is searching on Walmart, they are probably looking for the walmart website, not trying to decide whether or not to shop at walmart. You make a good point about job seekers, I hadn’t thought of that, but for every person who is deterred from working at a big company due to a negative comment, I bet there are 20 applicants who never even bothered to search on their potential employer’s name so they never saw the negative comments.