Search engine company Google has released its new online reputation-management (ORM) tool for people to control their visibility in the Web world.
Dubbed ‘Me on the Web’, the new tool can be found on the Google’s dashboard below account details.
ORM is the act of monitoring someone’s presence on the Net. It is employed by agencies to track what is written about a client and then use online and offline techniques to promote positive or neutral content while pushing negative ones down the search results.
However, many people without the knowledge of ORM find themselves mentioned in search results owing to malicious entries by enemies, spammers or marketing agencies. Google’s ‘Me on the Web’ hopes to address the concerns of such people.
Google product manager Andreas Tuerk wrote in an official blog that Google has released a new tool to help make it easier to monitor one’s identity on the Web and to provide easy access to resources describing ways to control what information is on the Web.
Tuerk wrote, "In recent years, it’s become easier and easier to publish information about yourself online, through powerful new platforms like social networking sites and photo sharing services. One way to manage your privacy on these sites is to decide who specifically can see this information, determining whether it is visible to just a few friends, family members or everyone on the web. But, another important decision is choosing how you are identified when you post that information."
"However, your online identity is determined not only by what you post, but also by what others post about you — whether a mention in a blog post, a photo tag or a reply to a public status update. When someone searches for your name on a search engine like Google, the results that appear are a combination of information you’ve posted and information published by others."
In the tool, Google’s message reads, "This tool will guide you through the process of reporting content that you believe warrants removal from Google’s services based on applicable laws. Completing this form will help ensure that we have all of the information necessary to investigate your specific inquiry and resolve it as quickly as possible."
