Do you ego surf for online public relations?

[thejenn]

I just wrote an article inspired by a report on "ego surfing" at the USA Today web site...

http://www.searchengineguide.com/laycock/002961.html

A few snippets...

"Consumers have few options available to them when they feel they've been wronged by a business... With blogs and online discussion forums growing increasingly popular, consumers are often taking their complaints to the Internet in order to share them with anyone willing to listen. "

"Small businesses are tight on resources, which is understandable, but the few minutes it takes to run a quick search for your name or your business on a search engine could end up giving you the chance to address a problem that you never knew existed. Programs like Google Alerts can even be used to notify you whenever a new page shows up in the index that mentions your company. This gives you a chance to turn the matter over to your PR department and have it promptly addressed. "

So, what do the rest of you think? Do you ego surf on your own name or your businesses name to see what's being said about you online? Have you been influenced by comments made online about a business you were thinking of hiring? What's your experience with online PR and search engines?

[Localmn]

I admit to it. Sometimes it's for curiousity and sometimes it's for checking out links. I've never really thought of it as a proactive public relations tool for small or local businesses to use. Great info there.

I've definitely been influenced by online comments about other businesses. Sometimes it's for the better - sometimes not. If it's about a vacation booking (what's a vacation?), I'd definitely plan to take comments and reviews into consideration. If it's a new take out restaurant, I usually don't and just hope it's good.

I have tested out Google alerts for a couple niche news areas, but I haven't even thought about using it for user review type reasons. Anyone here have any input on that?

I really like the article (thanks for allowing the redistribution - it'll will definitely make my users benefit). Last month I did write a lil' blurb on local online user reviews, but it was more of a general article without thinking of the PR aspect or specific steps to fix negative comments/reviews.

Paul

[audio'connell]

Is it about ego surfing or is it about market penetration?

I've worked hard to manage the search engines and listings for audio'connell are strong (a unique name helps obviously).

Searches for Peter O'Connell have my business in the first five pages of a search.

I simply want companies to be able to find my business in as many different avenues as possible and then have the content to keep them at the site and to execute an order. I'd think it better described as revenue surfing but that's just me.