Webwashing 2.0

by Dollars and Sense

Say you're the manager of a company that does nasty things, like killing union workers in Colombia. Before you know it, people are writing about it on the web.

What should you do to help your company's reputation?

a) Resign in disgust

b) Get your company to change its behavior

c) Post bogus comments and links to misdirect people searching on Google

Ding! Ding! Ding!

A nifty blog called Online Reputation Management gives step-by-step instructions for c):

1. Respond to the negative post by leaving a comment of your own on the same forum or blog, but on a different page. Include your full name (or company name) in the post.
2. Have a friend reply to your post.
3. Reply to your friend's post and include your full name (or company name) again.
4. Repeat this one more time on a different page within the forum or blog - not the negative post and not the one you just did, but a 3rd page.
5. Tag the 2 new pages that contain your name / company name and also point a few links to them (either place them on your own site or ask a friend).

Now, instead of the factual posts about your company's misdeeds, most search engines will show snippets of the baloney from you and your friends! Problem solved. Crisis forgotten.

Nice to know that those business school ethics courses are being put to such good use.

Technorati Tags: business ethics, public relations, Coke, Coca Cola

 

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10/19/2006 12:32:00 PM