The NyDailyNews.com reports that ex American Idol Simon Cowell who is also involved in working on other projects, has hired a search engine optimization company to ensure that his Google searches are top-heavy with positive stories.

“Meanwhile, insiders say that online critics of Cowell can have an incredibly hard time finding their work on the Web. Or worse.

For instance, one insider tells us the story of Hans Ebert, a former executive for Universal Music and EMI in Asia and a blogger who frequently writes about music on the Web.

On Aug. 5, Ebert posted an essay titled “Why ‘American Idol’ Is Better Off Without Simon Cowell,” which asserted that Cowell is “the Sarah Palin of music,” that the “Simon Cowell brand is seen as something horribly uncool” in the U.K. And that his “choices appeal to the lowest common denominator.”

A source close to the situation tells us that after posting his blog, Ebert discovered that it was “de-activated” by the host of his blog, WordPress, because it had violated the “Terms of Condition.”

After a 12 hour “hiatus,” the source says the blog was reinstated, and after Ebert did some investigating, the trail led to “an SEO company out of Bangalore, who is hired by a company based out of London to ‘monitor’ news of a few ‘name personalities.’”

Celebrities are jumping more and more into online reputation management. How is your name/brand/business reputation online? What are you doing to improve its outlook?

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• Address any negative issue immediately: Once you know that people are saying about you, you can respond accordingly. If it’s negative, you must make amends at the earliest; only then is it possible to limit the damage that negative news can cause your brand. Whatever is said online, whether it’s good or bad, spreads faster than wildfire. And when it’s bad news, you can bet that it’s going to be carried far and wide, and in the shortest time possible. If the news is untrue, then you must address the problem through your blog or social media page and issue a clarification that is satisfactory. If it’s true and you’re at fault, the best way to regain your reputation is an unconditional apology – that works like nothing else.

• Avoid controversy: Although we’ve heard that any kind of publicity, negative or positive, is good, this pertains only to show business where celebrities and wannabes just want their name in the news. When it comes to marketing online, your reputation must be impeccable. This means that it’s best to toe the line and avoid controversy as much as possible. And to this end, you need to do all you can to keep your commitments, to never take customers for a ride, and to promise only what you can deliver. When you’re true to your word, people are more likely to believe that your products and services are of good quality.
Your online reputation is very important, and if you don’t manage it effectively, you could end up losing the edge that online promotion offers.

This article is contributed by Susan White, who regularly writes on the subject of High Speed Internet Service. She invites your questions, comments at her email address: susan.white33@gmail.com.

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Michael Vick is in the news all the time now with the dog fighting scandal which can really hurt his career, but even worse, his reputation is just going down the drain. Especially for those who are not familiar with Vick and Google or Yahoo his name to learn about him for the first time.

Look at the screen shots of the paid ads which are people are clicking into:

Yahoo (Only first 2 ads, first page is full of negative ads):

Google:

In Google images, in the first line of pictures, there is a very disturbing picture of a pitbull damaged very badly. Also, another picture of two dogs fighting.

Many blogs are also touching on this story and you think they are writing positive things about him? Yeah, I dont think so either.