{"id":34192,"date":"2021-05-11T15:07:23","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T19:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=34192"},"modified":"2021-05-23T16:25:43","modified_gmt":"2021-05-23T20:25:43","slug":"what-is-online-reputation-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Online Reputation Management &#038; Does It Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is online reputation management (ORM)? What are some tactics that ORM companies use to influence their clients&#8217; online presence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Online reputation management (ORM) encompasses a number of tactics aimed at influencing an individual&#8217;s or a brand&#8217;s reputation in the online space. Usually, it involves creating new online content to knock down undesirable information further down the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn what online reputation is and how it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Online Reputation Management?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reputation management companies aim to hide shameful or damaging information about people by creating new online content that knocks that content onto the second or third page of online search results. <\/strong>According to Google, 53% of people don\u2019t look past the first two search results and almost 90% of people don\u2019t ever click past the first page.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reputation management companies tend to be discreet and mysterious, and few people who sign up have their identities exposed<\/strong>, unlike the applicants for the Right to Be Forgotten. Their clients aren\u2019t only people who have been publicly shamed\u2014one unnamed company was started by a felony rapist who wanted to hide his crimes, and other common clients include pedophiles and neo-Nazis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How Reputation Management Works<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>It\u2019s hard to influence Google\u2019s search result rankings because the algorithms are always changing. <\/strong>For example, in the mid-1990s, search engines ranked results based on how often a keyword appeared on a page. If you wanted to bury something about yourself, you could have just created a page with your name written over and over.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keyword frequency wasn\u2019t a very good way to get relevant search results, and two Stanford students came up with a new algorithm, PageRank, which would order search results by popularity instead. PageRank assesses links\u2014<strong>the more pages that link to a page, the more the algorithm assumes that the page is endorsed, authentic, and respected. <\/strong>Twitter, LinkedIn, and Tumblr automatically have a high PageRank because Google\u2019s algorithm thinks these sites are popular.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time of writing, <strong>Google\u2019s algorithm seemed to prioritize either brand new content, or content that was older than about twelve weeks <\/strong>and is thus considered authoritative. This algorithmic element is another difficulty for reputation management companies\u2014the content they initially put up about someone doesn\u2019t stay at the top of the search results for long, and after time, the results revert to the older things that people want hidden.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reversion isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing\u2014it shows that Google\u2019s algorithm is unsure of what information is most important. This is the company\u2019s chance to make the new information take over for good by flooding the internet with even more non-shaming content. However, <strong>the uploading has to be timed carefully and appear natural, otherwise Google\u2019s algorithm will notice the deluge and realize it&#8217;s being manipulated.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reputation.com<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>What is online reputation management <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/business-reputation\/\">company Reputation<\/a>.com? It was created by Michael Fertik, who came up with the idea of online reputation management in the mid-2000s when revenge porn and cyberbullying were starting to appear.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fertik adheres to a code of conduct. <\/strong>He won\u2019t take on clients who are under investigation for or who have committed certain crimes\u2014violent, fraud, sexual, or crimes against children\u2014and he won\u2019t put up any content that isn\u2019t true (many companies invent accolades as part of their content creation). Fertik\u2019s clients tend to be people who have been publicly shamed, revenge porn victims, people who were falsely accused of crimes, or politicians who had said something awkward that hasn\u2019t yet gone viral.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fertik is often criticized for his work because according to some people, reputation management manipulates the truth and attacks free speech. <strong>He thinks his work is justified\u2014public shaming can destroy people\u2019s lives, and its prevalence makes everyone scared it will happen to them next.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is online reputation management (ORM)? What are some tactics that ORM companies use to influence their clients&#8217; online presence? Online reputation management (ORM) encompasses a number of tactics aimed at influencing an individual&#8217;s or a brand&#8217;s reputation in the online space. Usually, it involves creating new online content to knock down undesirable information further down the search results. Keep reading to learn what online reputation is and how it works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,104],"tags":[277],"class_list":["post-34192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-marketing","tag-so-youve-been-publicly-shamed","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Is Online Reputation Management &amp; Does It Work - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Online reputation management involves a number of tactics aimed at influencing an individual&#039;s online presence. Here&#039;s what you need to know.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is Online Reputation Management &amp; Does It Work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Online reputation management involves a number of tactics aimed at influencing an individual&#039;s online presence. Here&#039;s what you need to know.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-11T19:07:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-23T20:25:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"788\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"514\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"What Is Online Reputation Management &#038; Does It Work\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-11T19:07:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-23T20:25:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/\"},\"wordCount\":665,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"So You&#039;ve Been Publicly Shamed\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Communication\",\"Marketing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/\",\"name\":\"What Is Online Reputation Management & Does It Work - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-11T19:07:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-23T20:25:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Online reputation management involves a number of tactics aimed at influencing an individual's online presence. Here's what you need to know.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg\",\"width\":788,\"height\":514},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Is Online Reputation Management &#038; Does It Work\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Is Online Reputation Management & Does It Work - Shortform Books","description":"Online reputation management involves a number of tactics aimed at influencing an individual's online presence. Here's what you need to know.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Is Online Reputation Management & Does It Work","og_description":"Online reputation management involves a number of tactics aimed at influencing an individual's online presence. Here's what you need to know.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-05-11T19:07:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-23T20:25:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":788,"height":514,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"What Is Online Reputation Management &#038; Does It Work","datePublished":"2021-05-11T19:07:23+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-23T20:25:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/"},"wordCount":665,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg","keywords":["So You&#039;ve Been Publicly Shamed"],"articleSection":["Communication","Marketing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/","name":"What Is Online Reputation Management & Does It Work - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-11T19:07:23+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-23T20:25:43+00:00","description":"Online reputation management involves a number of tactics aimed at influencing an individual's online presence. Here's what you need to know.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg","width":788,"height":514},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-online-reputation-management\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Is Online Reputation Management &#038; Does It Work"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/48-laws-law-4.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34192"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36146,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34192\/revisions\/36146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}