Google has recently updated its searching function to include features of ‘real time search’, according to Smart Company.

So what does this mean?

A greater emphasis has now been placed on the importance of regular and fresh content being added to websites, which allow users of the search engine to categorise search results into time relevancy (E.g. past 24 hours, past week etc).

Although most Search Engine Marketers (SME’s) are concerned about what ramifications this may have on the SEO of websites, as it has so significantly increased the need for frequently updated, fresh content; this feature also allows your business to effectively monitor your reputation over the internet.

Online reputation management is becoming increasingly important when recent communications crises such as that of the Dominos video are considered.

One of the most conflicting aspects of the internet is the power of the user to contribute to a social forum on a range of topics. In one way this empowers those that may not necessarily have had their voice heard in traditional media. However, it also opens a Pandora’s box in terms of protecting the image of an organisation or business.

Furthermore, traditional media now refers to blogs and social media websites as reliable information sources when reporting on breaking news stories.  Due to the immediacy of the internet, blogs etc. can often be the first sources for breaking new stories as they can publish information before traditional mediums have had a chance to respond.  This has increased the power of the internet, as a reliable source of information, which means online attacks can be particularly damaging to your company’s reputation – particularly if the story is later picked up by traditional media.

Read more on online reputation management here.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 12th, 2009 at 4:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.