Proof a Vicious Rumor Can Hurt Your Online Reputation

Friday, October 3rd, 2008 by Andy Beal

Proof a Vicious Rumor Can Hurt Your Online Reputation

Time and time again, I hear businesses tell me they don’t need to monitor their online reputation because there’s not anything being written about them. Maybe you have a perfect reputation, maybe your business has thus far never encountered an online reputation attack, but I would be willing to bet that somewhere on the web, there is a vicious rumor circulating–and you don’t even know about it.

Want proof of just how quickly a false rumor can start and dramatically hurt your business?

Take a look at this false report about Apple CEO Steve Jobs:

Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER just a few hours ago after suffering a major heart attack. I have an insider who tells me that paramedics were called after Steve claimed to be suffering from severe chest pains and shortness of breath.

Now take a look at what happened to Apple’s stock price:

OK, so you’re not Apple, but you know what? Someone, somewhere, someday, will make a false statement about your CEO, products, services, or company. If you cover your ears, you might lose business and never even know why.

We built Trackur to provide a comprehensive online media monitoring solution for just $18 a month! Surely your reputation is worth 60 cents a day to protect? Even if you have no budget, you owe it to yourself to at least set up some basic reputation monitoring.

Go! Go now! Before you become the next victim of a vicious online rumor.

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17 comments on “Proof a Vicious Rumor Can Hurt Your Online Reputation”

SEO Content Writers- $10 Says:

October 3rd, 2008 at 1:03 pm

Well, unfortunately with the online world, you really can’t protect yourself from anyone who wants to tarnish your reputation. This is the downside of the internet. What you could do is right many, many, good reports and good reviews about yourself and/or your website and submit them to article directories.
San Nayak Says:

October 3rd, 2008 at 3:03 pm

Surprised to see a hoax creating such a glitch and what will be it in real?

San Nayak’s last blog post..A Wednesday – Best Hindi Movie of 2008
SoLinkable Says:

October 3rd, 2008 at 3:03 pm

I saw this earlier on TechCrunch… I wonder if its just somebody trying to make a quick dollar. Start a rumor, wait for the stock to plummet, buy up while its low, and well, profit.

SoLinkable’s last blog post..Citizen a4Journalista4 Hits Apple Stock With False (Steve Jobs) Heart Attack Rumor
Utah SEO Pro Says:

October 3rd, 2008 at 3:59 pm

Ouch, I had a feeling that might have happened when that news came out but never checked. It almost gives me some ideas. jk
Utah SEO Pro’s last blog post..Social Media Expert Quiz
SEO next Says:

October 3rd, 2008 at 5:47 pm

We get a lot of clients for reputation management.. most of them come to us because of rip off report…
Zurpit Says:

October 3rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm

Wow that’s crazy, people could just spread rumors and attack their competition
PS3 Says:

October 3rd, 2008 at 8:12 pm

Did Apple take any action against the hoaxers?
Nicole Price Says:

October 4th, 2008 at 6:28 am

I do not quite see how this can be remotely called damage to reputation. This is obviously a ploy to get the share price to move down so that some pickings could be had. Whoever played the game, knew very well that he is taking a big risk and would have taken sufficient precautions.

Nicole Price’s last blog post..Hypermiling
Dennis Edell Says:

October 4th, 2008 at 8:48 pm

This is at least the second time someone has temporarily tanked apple stock with a false rumor…hmm…

Dennis Edell’s last blog post..My First Contest! Time To Put Your Thinking Caps On…
Jacques Snyman Says:

October 5th, 2008 at 11:39 am

Definitely an effective way to manipulate the markets. Spread disinformation and cash in on the resultant chaos….
Dave Says:

October 6th, 2008 at 1:52 am

There are several issues of importance contained in this CNN story.
CNN is a main stream news organization. As such it should be
conducting itself in a professional manner. It is not standard journalistic procedure to post any news story with out the input from independent corroborative sources. The scandal rags do business this
way and are frequently sued for their carelessness.
It is quite revealing that CNN characterised the inaccurate news report as fraudulent. Can you say, “back peddling into major damage control mode“.

To the credit of the internet. It is one of the most free places on the planet. Another old but true saying is, “with freedom comes responsibility.” In this case we might also add accountability to apple, and the general public.
Christmas Guy Says:

October 6th, 2008 at 3:59 am

$18 is not so much for online media monitoring solution. I think it is really worth trying.

Christmas Guy’s last blog post..Christmas Crafts for Kids
zncustombuilding Says:

October 6th, 2008 at 5:11 am

that’s terrible… i think it can really ruin your reputation…. thanks for telling me buddy… another ugly face of competition
QuickPWN Says:

October 6th, 2008 at 12:27 pm

Wow, is this really all because of a rumor? It’s funny how people will believe anything these days. They need to stop being ignorant and verify their facts first.

QuickPWN’s last blog post..Install Flash Player iPhone App
kouji Says:

October 6th, 2008 at 3:33 pm

i read about this. quite a significant knee jerk reaction there. :O

kouji’s last blog post..haiku poem: nature (bird)
Check Page Rank Says:

October 11th, 2008 at 8:38 am

Paypalsucks.com is not yet succeeded in making Paypal pay!!
Apple learns an expensive PR lesson « Beck Bamberger’s take on CEO interviews, PR, and more Says:

October 22nd, 2008 at 11:32 am

[...] online PR-in other words, how you are perceived online, in the universe we call the World Wide Web. Check out how this tiny paragraph a blogger posted about Apple Computers’ Steve Jobs turned into a sharp [...]

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