Although most companies turn to search engine optimization (SEO) to increase their traffic because of a lack of online visibility, there are some firms that have begun using the tool to try to downplay negative press.
A piece on ClickZ notes that Washington-based search engine optimization (SEO) company Visible Technologies has launched a new service called TruReputation which will help push down negative material about an organization, making sure it’s not on the first page of a search engine results page.
Blake Cahill, senior vice president of marketing for Visible Technologies told the website that the company’s service is not an attempt to remove negative feedback from the web, but because most people do not look past the first page of a Google search, pushing the negative content to page two or beyond can be very helpful.
"If you have misaligned content, getting it off those first two pages and pushing it down is what we work with brands to do," Cahill said. "We work with brands to outrank whatever is out there."
Search engine optimization (SEO) can also be used for the opposite purpose. Recently the environmental group GreenPeace began an online campaign called the Cool IT Challenge which uses SEO to make sure some IT industry executives’ names show up near the top of a Google search with a corresponding link showing their company’s impact on the environment.
