Posts Tagged ‘Reputation Management’
Google auto-complete reputation woes!
Google algorithm and the auto-complete function has landed the search engine giant back in court again. This time it is a man from Japan who alleges that he lost his job with the auto complete bringing up criminal acts when his name is typed into the search box. The man demands that the defaming words be removed and that he gets compensated for all the embarrassment he has had to go through.
Clearly a case of reputation damage and though the court has ruled that the offending words be removed Google has towed the ‘not subject to Japanese law’ line. However, the present case is about compensation and yet again Google defence points out that such cases are rare and the algorithm decides things on what is already available online.
A man from Italy won a case against Google for similar reasons and so did a Frenchman who had to deal with words like ‘rapist’ being suggested with his name. Google does screen for pornography, profanity etc, so can easily oblige if a court sees it as having caused reputation damage to a plaintiff.
However, with Google claiming to have more and more requests from governments to remove content all this could well eat into the brand losing its sheen of being impartial based on its algorithm, which gets tweaked every so often to weed out spam and information of low value among other things. So will Google pay up??
Apple Siri gender bias or glitch?
Siri’s obvious unwillingness to help a woman to find abortion clinics has created ire. The latest controversy could not have come at a time when the company is facing tough competition from their Android-powered counterpart. Angered by Siri’s failure to locate even one result has had people sign mass petitions to Apple. Blogs and comments are keeping the controversy alive thus putting Apple in a delicate situation. We have to see how they tackle this serious issue.
As always, the problem with Apple is they fail to understand that to develop such an effective feature, Siri has to learn about the user; it should customize itself to know every detail about an institution or an individual. Guess what? Siri transforms your speech into a search algorithm and uses the 3rd part search engine to obtain result. If the search engine fails to return the information, Apple gets the blame for not having programmed that way. Read the rest of this entry »
Reebok reputation takes a $25 million hit for deceptive info on toning shoe
Reebok’s reputation as an earnest athletic brand that could make people jump and run faster was all intact until the company introduced its toning shoe ‘EasyTone and RunTone’. The product claimed to burn that extra fat and get you that Jessica Alba kind booty. Well this was enough to tempt people to buy and fine tune their shape. Read the rest of this entry »
To have a Wikipedia page or not? Small Business Reputation Management
Wikipedia began with the noble intention of providing all with free information on anything under the sun. So yes, the content should be impersonal or neutral and in an openly editable model. So unlike an encyclopedia, which is written by experts, the Wikipedia content is largely written by volunteers who do so without pay.
The big advantage: By virtue of being a favoured site by Google, the SEO or ORM implications of having a Wiki page for your small business are huge. Wikipedia pages usually rank on the first pages of Google and other search engines.
Should you have a Wikipedia page for your small business? Read the rest of this entry »
Two 5-Star hotel reviews up for just $5 – Hotel Reputation
We live by five star ratings to just about anything you can buy or do in the online world these days. To plan a holiday or buy a best-seller we go by ratings and reviews online on TripAdvisor or Amazon. Real people telling you their joyous experiences helping you decide it all. Or NOT! This New York Times article lifts the lid on fake rave reviews. Here is an excerpt… Read the rest of this entry »
Murdoch reputation takes a hit
This happens when you don’t handle crisis the way it should be. Murdoch’s News Corp is facing the heat over its phone hacking scandal, which is doing significant damage to its reputation. Interestingly the news broke out just in time when Murdoch was going to take over the British Sky Broadcasting. Later giving in to the pressure from the UK Govt, he dropped his plan. Read the rest of this entry »
Speedo Takes Aussie Blogger To Court
Sportswear giants Speedo have taken a break from smuggling budgies and started down the path of smuggling bloggers to court as it’s revealed they’re unhappy with one Australian blogger who’s “using their brand name in vain”.
Read the rest of this entry »