Reputation.com
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online reputation management |
| Headquarters | Redwood City, California, U.S. |
| Website | www.reputation.com |
Reputation.com (formerly ReputationDefender[1]) is a company based in Redwood City, California that offers online reputation management (ORM) and internet privacy services.[2] Company CEO Michael Fertik has criticized review websites that don't monitor comments or require users to register.[3]
History
ReputationDefender was established in 2006[1] with a purported focus of helping parents protect their children from damaging their reputations through embarrassing postings on social media websites and later expanded to add similar services for adults.[4] Its services included monitoring of web content about their clients. When damaging content was found, the company tried to get it removed from the offending websites through methods such as sending letters to the site owners asking them to remove the content. In 2006, Susan Crawford, a cyberlaw specialist on the faculty of Cardozo Law School, commented that when contacted in that fashion, "most people will take materials down just to avoid the hassle of dealing with possible litigation." [4]
Fertik told an interviewer that the company's methods did not work with all types of web content, noting that "some clients and prospective clients would like us to get news articles in major publications or court records removed from the internet," but his company must "tell them that these requests are extremely difficult to fulfill and sometimes impossible." In general, he said that the company was sensitive to First Amendment issues, and would not go after "genuinely newsworthy speech."[4] In a 2007 article, Business Week reported that ReputationDefender was offering businesses a "$10,000 premium service ... that can promote the info you want and suppress the news you don't," primarily by manipulating search-engine results.[5]
Name change
In January 2010, the company announced that it was changing its name from ReputationDefender to Reputation.com, saying that the new name communicates that the company had expanded it services "beyond the 'defensive' and onto the 'proactive' face of reputation and privacy management."[1] The page for ReputationDefender software[6] advises, "High-ranking negative content can damage your reputation online. We push negative links down by creating and promoting accurate and truthful content."
On September 1, 2010, the World Economic Forum announced the company as a Technology Pioneer for 2011.[7]
A February 2012 report in Bloomberg Businessweek called Reputation.com "the most prominent player" in online reputation management, but noted that the company, and others in the field, are having difficulty controlling their own online search profiles.[8] The company charges its customers at least $1000 a year for its service.[9]
Technology and patents
In 2012, Reputation.com received multiple patents related to its development of reputation science technologies.[10] Some of the company’s patented software includes scoring systems used to identify consumer information and generate reputation scores for individuals.[11] The technology outlined in other patents has centered on persona isolation, sentiment analysis, and privacy protection.[10]
Current Reputation.com technologies include privacy related systems that locate websites where an individual’s personal data is unknowingly listed.[12] These systems also attempt to delist the data.[12] There is also review technology that allows businesses to track online reviews and reach out to customers in order to proactively gather reviews.[12]
Nikki Catsouras controversy
The company received publicity in the United States when it managed to remove death photographs of Nikki Catsouras from about 300 of some 400 Internet sites hosting them. The photos spread to new sites with a Streisand effect, and Fertik acknowledged their removal as "a virtually unwinnable battle".[13][14]
In a 2009 paper in the Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, law professor Ann Bartow accused ReputationDefender of "energetically exploiting online harassment of women to garner extensive national publicity." [15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Frappier, Rob (2011-01-12). "Changing Our Name, But Not Our Mission" (Press release). Reputation.com. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
- ↑ My Good Name Protector ReputationDefender Raises $2.6M In 1st Round, TheAlarmClock.com, September 4, 2008
- ↑ Heussner, Ki-Mae (April 1, 2009). "How Does the Internet Rate You?". ABCNews.com.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Gilbertson, Scott (7 November 2006). "Delete Your Bad Web Rep". Wired. Wired. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
- ↑ Web Attack, Bloomberg Businessweek, April 6, 2007
- ↑ https://www.reputation.com/reputationdefender accessed July 18, 2011
- ↑ Thirty-One Visionary Companies Selected as Technology Pioneers 2011
- ↑ Tom McNichol, "Fixing the Reputations of Reputation Managers: Companies promising to cleanse your name online are themselves the targets of smears", Bloomberg Businessweek, February 2, 2012.
- ↑ Nate C. Hindman, "Google Problems? BrandYourself Helps You Control Search Results of Your Name", Huffington Post, February 2, 2012.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Reputation.com Receives Third United States Patent for Reputation Science Technologies", SF Gate, December 11, 2012.
- ↑ "A Vault for Taking Charge of Your Online Life", The New York Times, December 8, 2012.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Reputation.com spots, cleans up online blemishes", Biz Journals, July 13, 2012.
- ↑ Maureen Callahan, Untangling a Web of Lies, New York Post, February 16, 2007
- ↑ "One Family's Fight Against Grisly Web Photos". Newsweek. p. 3. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- ↑ Ann Bartow, INTERNET DEFAMATION AS PROFIT CENTER: THE MONETIZATION OF ONLINE HARASSMENT, Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, pages 383-430.