Online reputation

As suggestions such as "prostitute" or "escort" are displayed when searching for Bettina Wulff's name in Google Suggest, the wife of the former German Federal President has tried to get Google to remove obvious false reports about her from the Google index and in particular from Google Suggest. Google did not listen to her request. Any person or brand that is in the public eye must be aware that reputational damage can occur - the only thing that is unknown is when it started.

Google shows what users are interested in

Like a tabloid newspaper, Google Suggest shows what users are currently interested in or concerned about. Which suggestions appear in Google Suggest is therefore decided solely by the mass of search engine users. Anyone can launch a negative or positive campaign about a person or brand on the web and cleverly disseminate it online. At the beginning of a negative or positive campaign, there is a great incentive for every blogger or twitterer:

The effect of his blog entry or tweet may be small on an individual basis, but in the event of an escalation he quickly attracts a lot of attention. The network effect accelerates with each additional follower. If the critical mass of demand and dissemination is reached, a self-runner is created on the web that can no longer be controlled or stopped. As a result, Google Suggest shows the campaign's keywords as relevant results; in Bettina Wulff's case, keywords from the now numerous articles on her supposed past life.

No rash steps

How should a person, company or brand behave if their online reputation is damaged? Under no circumstances should they raise awareness through denials, censorship or legal action. Bettina Wulff made precisely this mistake, taking the issue from the online media to the offline media. As a result, the topic has reached a wider circle of people. At the same time, the topic was spread online by bloggers and twitterers. As a result, interest has increased, the topic has reached new circles and Bettina Wulff's reputation has deteriorated further.

Sitting out the situation

Once the negative headlines are there, there are no short-term countermeasures. Bettina Wulff would have been better advised to sit out the situation until no one is interested in the negative information any more. Once the situation has calmed down, the negative information can be "displaced" by new positive content.

Distracting from the topic

By diverting attention from the topic, for example through charitable or social commitment, Bettina Wulff could have directed the public's interest to new topics relating to her person and restaged herself, which in turn would have influenced the demand for positive keywords in the search engines and therefore also Google Suggest. She could also have taken up the topic professionally in order to control the communication about her person. That's what Toyota did in 2010 when issues with its gas pedal surfaced and the company was hounded by bloggers and Twitterers. With a thoughtful approach, Toyota managed to control and restore its online reputation (see http://bit.ly/QNopVW).

Imre Sinka & Nicolas Kaufmann