Perhaps an employee spoke out about some company practices or a customer complained on a forum about how they were treated when they called. Either way, if it makes headlines then others will see it and the public perception of a company will be changed.
The Internet, the very thing that caused the issue, can now be employed by the company to cover it up with a series of hastily instigated steps though, as Forbes report.
Although moving negative links down search engines can be hard to achieve, they can be replaced if a company can get other news out about itself which people will want to read.
By writing new publicity, the problem post may be pushed out of sight online. Inc notes how rather than people clicking it and making search engines think that it is relevant, now it will be irrelevant and obscured by the positive self-published news about the company.
Techniques like this enable companies to act to cover up negative reports on them so that you see them portrayed only positively where possible.
Digital PR agencies may also be employed to get as many sites as possible talking in a good way about the company. The power of brands has been proven in the past and if a firm gets its name onto a large, well-known website then you are statistically more likely to trust it and overlook the views of that one pesky customer.
The customer’s report may have ordinarily put you off but if the company has appeared in a reputable report then your brain tends to automatically assume that the company must also be reputable – a generally logical view.
Social media profiles are also regularly trimmed so that only desirable content is shown. Although removing a negative post on a Facebook wall may be rather conspicuous, it can still be obscured with the same technique as before: posting new things to obscure the old in the hope that it will disappear and be forgotten.
You can avoid these crafty tactics by simply being a savvy shopper. When trying out a company for the first time, search for its name with a few negative keywords thrown in. If you are browsing through its Facebook feed, scroll down a little more and see if anything is lurking beneath.
Bad reviews can damage a company so they will do whatever they can to hide them and move peoples’ gazes along. Let yours linger though and you may find the secrets beneath the surface.
