Comments on: 29 Top Brands Trashed in Google

By: DAVE

DAVE — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:01:48 +0000

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.

By: Kevin Delaney

Kevin Delaney — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 19:59:37 +0000

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.

By: Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Daniel Johnson, Jr. — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 07:37:54 +0000

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

By: Matt Siltala

Matt Siltala — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 21:21:13 +0000

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!

By: Richard K Miller

Richard K Miller — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:29:06 +0000

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.