Fionn Downhill – Digital Shenanigans

Today Elixir Interactive has published the results of an ongoing case study documenting a systematic attack on our online reputation.  “Brands Under Attack” details the tactics used by unscrupulous companies and/or individuals in an attempt to overwhelm search engine results with negative, slanderous reports for a given brand or brand-related keyword.  The case study is the result of months of research and analysis that was sparked when Elixir came under attack in early 2010, as originally outlined here in March.

Taking full advantage of the anonymity of review and complaint sites and employing black hat linking tactics, someone has been attacking online reputation management companies since at least the Fall of 2009.  When we first noticed they were attacking Elixir, rather than ignoring it or dealing with it behind closed doors, I decided to document the tactics used by our attacker as well as the actions we took to counter it and to bring everything out into the open on the web.  While we certainly garnered sympathy with our first blog post four months ago, we also triggered a more vicious and persistent attack, which continues to this day.

As an experienced Online Reputation Management (ORM) company, Elixir already had a solid web presence and we have been able to increase the visibility of some of our assets as well as create additional ones to counter the unrelenting creation of fictitious reports against our brand. The case study explains the steps we took, and continue to take, to maintain clean SERPs for our branded search terms. It also analyzes the complicity of complaint sites in these types of attacks, the surprising lack of legal recourse for what would otherwise be considered slanderous reviews, and the price of living in a instantaneous and anonymous web.

“Brands Under Attack” can be found at www.elixirinteractivecomplaints.com where we will continue to update the case study as needed.

I’m at the Elixir table in OMS Charlotte – if anyone who like to discuss online reputation management or seo come and visit us. Dylan is running an SEO site clinic, if you would like to benefit from his 14 years SEO knowledge he would be happy to help.

Graywolf has an excellent post on his blog about natural linking.  How true this is,  I am seeing sites ranked with complete garbage links.  Obscure social media sites that are nothing but link farms,  $99 link wheels, blah blah.  Google needs to address linking again.  What I see now with caffeine is you put up some garbage, throw some even more garbage links at it and you will beat the sites that rank naturally and deserve to be there overnight. I am confident knowing Google’s commitment to quality that this is an unintended consquence of them being so busy with some big stuff going on.  I see very positive changes with the Mayday update but its time for Google to get their ‘find the total crap influenceing the results’ hats back on and fix this.

So Graywolf just for all your hard work here is a natural link to your great article.  I listened to Google and I failed.

OMS 23 city tour kicked off in Denver today.  The tour had kicked off in Phoenix on the 19th of May unofficially but today was the offical start.  Hopefully Phoenix a test city this year will be  a permanent fixture on the schedule next year.  Although given the fact that it is 107 degrees here today and forecast for 110 tomorrow  I think being a few weeks ahead of everybody else will be a permanent feature.

Elixir Interactive  will participate in New York, Atlanta & Charlotte as a sponsor, speaker and vendor.  We will also be running an SEO lab in New York where our team of experts will be providing free 15 minutes consultations on your SEO efforts.  We will provide each participant with three key takeways about their current campaings or advice on how to get started.  We will also be showing how SEO tools can streamline the SEO process and free up valuable time to spend on strategy and client relationships.  It will be nice to get out of the baking hot desert for a few weeks and cool off.

Matt Cutts gives us an update on the “MAYDAY” algorithm that has been the buzz in SEO and internet marketing circles.  It is believed to be the cause of long tail traffic losses in late April and early May.

Matt Cutts is the official head of Google’s Webspam team.

Rand Fiskin of SEOMOZ has created an excellent well researched post on the ranking factors for Bing and Google.   No real surprises for those of us in SEO except perhaps the role that content plays.  Of Course without content you will find it very difficult to get those great links which are still a huge ranking factor for both search engines.  Nice to hear that both engines are similar.  Rand deferred to optimizing for both engines who ever had time for that?

You can read the complete very long but well worth reading post here.

In a press release issued today by Hearst Corp Hearst has announced its acquisition of digital marketing agencyiCrossing.  What a remarkable and well deserved end to the iCrossing story.  When I first came into the industry many moons ago iCrossing were not nearly as big as they are now.  Their growth and their continued focus on their core competency of search was very interesting.  They won many major clients and budgets which would never normally go to a search agency but would end up with an Agency of record with minimal amounts being spent in the online space.  Having struggled with growing a business myself and been completely baffled by some of the pain of growing my hat is off to iCrossing for their success.  iCrossing is based here in Scottsdale and I have had the pleasure of working with many former and current employees over the years particularly former President Jeff Pruett now CEO ofTallwave. 

Maybe if I go over and stand outside their building a million dollars might fall on my head.  Congratulations to the iCrossing team past and present for a remarkable journey.

Consumers today are highly cautious with their online dealings with businesses, so whether your company has only a website that promotes your off-line business, or your business is managed online, your reputation is at stake. The Internet is capable of bringing in all kinds of orders and new clients, or the Internet can ruin a company with negative reviews. Your competitor or a disgruntled customer will post a negative review about your company’s products or services and in an instant, your company’s reputation, which you’ve worked hard to build up, has been destroyed. This is precisely why it is imperative for companies to consult an online reputation management firm.

Studies show that more than 80% of people use the Internet to do research into companies and the people they are about to do business with, and they will not do business with a company who has negative reviews, comments or blogs written about them. Most companies do not realize that it’s very easy to tarnish their reputation with just a few negative comments, or negative reviews posted in high-traffic websites devoted to informing potential customers. It’s virtually impossible to be a successful online business with a bad reputation. Firms who specialize in Reputation management online will work to repair any damage done and will steer more business your way.

These online management firms approach the situation pro-actively, by finding positive articles, reviews and feedbacks about your company and then work to ensure that these positive remarks and posts will rank higher in a search engines results list, thereby pushing down the negative posts into obscurity; that’s if the generated negativity is unwarranted and undeserved. If the negative remarks were earned, then the online management firms help you publicize how your company has corrected the issue at hand, and work to rank references to the corrective actions higher in a search engines results list, again, putting your company in a better light.

Online reputation management is an ongoing activity, because consumers will always use the Internet as a source to either praise or blast a company’s product or service, and your competitors with a better online reputation are waiting and willing to take away a potential customer. Vigilance about a companies online reputation is the key to keeping your company’s success and growth to continue.

Read the full report on the smear campaing against Elixir Interactive on www.elixirinteractivecomplaints.com.

This morning I received an e-mail from the ShoeMoney blog in response to my request to advertise my site http://interactiveseomoney.blogspot.com/ on their blog.  I knew I had never contacted ShoeMoney to advertise so I clicked on the link with interest.  It appears some low life spammer has decided that my name can make them some money.  They have created a blogspot blog offering my “amazing” SEO program for just $10 with a link to a Paypal account to pay.  They have then proceeded to drop spam blog comments all over the web to promote their scam and presumably make as much money as possible quickly.  The really scary thing is that after a half hour of trying to get a live person at PayPal they could not remove the fraudulent account which has been set up in our name.  They told me to contact an attorney.

This is either a sick joke since all detail about our company was correct or once again our good name and reputation is under attack.  I am sick and tired of how easy it is to hurt a name and brand on the web.  I was not a fan of changing the rules of the web but after so many years in online reputation management I now believe that the time has come for much stricter rules to protect brand, individuals and provide some protection against defamation and slander.    A few weeks ago a deliberate attempt was made to damage our name this may be be a follow up to that where they have now decided to try and damage my personal name.  Either that or there truly are a lot of naive people out there who would click on a Paypal link to pay $10 to be #1 in Google.  Otherwise why would these people keep doing this.

In these difficult economic times, it is more challenging than ever to build and maintain a successful business. Traditional business methods– running ads and relying on word-of-mouth — are no longer enough. Instead businesses have to think outside of the box, and more specifically into the cyberworld.

Regardless of the type of business, the Internet is often the first place that customers go when seeking a new service. Not only is the Internet quick and easy to use — simply type what you are looking for into Google and nice long list will come up — but it also gives users many different options. The Internet is a one-stop shop for listings of different companies and customer reviews.

As a business owner many tools can be used to your advantage. With the proper seo tool you can monitor and help influence your websites on search engines like Google and Yahoo . To begin search engine optimization (SEO) helps improve your sites ranking on the search engine. This involves being aware of popular search phrases connected to your business as well as having pages on popular social networking sites like Facebook or Linkedin . The goal is to improve your ranking so that potential customers won’t have to search through 10 or 15 pages of results to find your site (because most of them won’t search that far). This also increases your company’s visibility.

Another benefit of SEO is helping monitor your company’s reputation . Every business, no matter how long it has been established or how honest it is, has had disgruntled customers. It’s just part of the business. However with the Internet being so easy access and use, customers can spread their displeasure much easier and wider. SEO can help you keep watch for negative reviews that could damage potential business and reputation management can push those sites out of the primary ranking.

With SEO your business could be on the leading edge of the internet market and well on its way to even greater business success.