ReputationDefender
Encyclopedia
Reputation.com is a company located in Redwood City, California
that sells online reputation management
(ORM) and internet
privacy. Company CEO Michael Fertik
has criticized review websites that don't monitor comments or require users to register. 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, and Fertik acknowledged their removal as "a virtually unwinnable battle".
ReputationDefender started out in 2006 with a focus on helping parents protect their children from damaging their reputations through embarrassing postings on social media
websites, but quickly expanded to add similar services for adults. Its services include monitoring of web content about their clients. When damaging content is found, the company tries 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."
Fertik told an interviewer that the company's methods do 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." 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.
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."
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." The page for ReputationDefender software 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.
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...
that sells online reputation management
Online reputation management
Online reputation management is the practice of monitoring the Internet reputation of a person, brand or business, with the goal of suppressing negative mentions entirely, or pushing them lower on search engine results pages to decrease their visibility...
(ORM) and internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
privacy. Company CEO Michael Fertik
Michael Fertik
Michael Fertik is an American Internet entrepreneur. He is theChief Executive Officer and founder of Reputation.com, Inc. a technology companyfocused on matters of online reputation management and Internet privacy...
has criticized review websites that don't monitor comments or require users to register. The company received publicity in the United States when it managed to remove death photographs of Nikki Catsouras
Nikki Catsouras photographs controversy
The Nikki Catsouras photographs controversy concerns the leaking of photographs of Nicole "Nikki" Catsouras , a woman who died at the age of 18 in a car crash after losing control of her father's Porsche 911 Carrera at high speed and colliding with a toll booth in Lake Forest, California...
from about 300 of some 400 Internet sites hosting them. The photos spread to new sites, and Fertik acknowledged their removal as "a virtually unwinnable battle".
ReputationDefender started out in 2006 with a focus on helping parents protect their children from damaging their reputations through embarrassing postings on social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
websites, but quickly expanded to add similar services for adults. Its services include monitoring of web content about their clients. When damaging content is found, the company tries 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."
Fertik told an interviewer that the company's methods do 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
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
issues, and would not go after "genuinely newsworthy speech." 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.
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."
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." The page for ReputationDefender software 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
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
announced the company as a Technology Pioneer for 2011.