Brand management online is very important and today Google adjusted their algorithm so the old “any publicity is good publicity” doesn’t work. The decision came after and investigation of DecorMyEyes who harassed a woman and she posted her experience online. The company admitted they were looking for buzz even if it is negative. Being bad to your customers is bad for business and now your Google ranking as well.
We were horrified to read about Ms. Rodriguez’s dreadful experience. Even though our initial analysis pointed to this being an edge case and not a widespread problem in our search results, we immediately convened a team that looked carefully at the issue. That team developed an initial algorithmic solution, implemented it, and the solution is already live. I am here to tell you that being bad is, and hopefully will always be, bad for business in Google’s search results.
Read the post on the New York Times that prompted the change:
A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web
Google’s response: Being bad to your customers is bad for business
