Michael Fertik, CEO of Reputation.com (AP)

Last week, Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik shared some insights on the prevalence of false reviews online and the importance of self-regulating the Online Reputation Management industry with the Associated Press. In case you missed the full AP article, the story has been republished this morning by the Jerusalem Post.

As the Internet continues to grow, we are happy to see that the debate over web privacy and Online Reputation Management has become an international talking point. After all, protecting oneself from internet defamation and identity theft isn’t just an American issue, it’s a global issue, which is why Reputation.com is proud to claim customers in over 35 countries worldwide.

Recently, Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik appeared as a guest on FOX & Friends Weekend. On the program, Michael spoke with anchors Clayton Morris and Alisyn Camerota about Google’s recently announced plans to compete with Microsoft through their own operating system, Google Chrome OS. Specifically, Michael describes the privacy concerns associated with allowing Google complete access to a user’s computer. Check out the clip below.

Obviously, the notion that your private search habits can be used to deny you medical coverage is unnerving. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it’s beyond the realm of possibility. While there are those who might agree with Clayton that Michael’s prediction is “a big leap,” certain recent events at Google have given the idea more credence.

About a month ago, Mashable reported that Google and Compete.com were experimenting on delivering personalized ads based on a user’s credit score. While Google was quick to clarify that they “don’t collect or serve ads based on personal information without user permission,” it demonstrated a willingness on the company’s part to explore what would commonly be considered private information.

With the law only now beginning to catch up with technology, is it really that great of a leap to believe your “private” data could someday be used against you?

At this summer’s SHRM (Society for Human Resources Management) Conference, Bing and CareerBuilder announced a partnership to create the CareerBuilder Applicant Explorer. According to CareerBuilder, the tool combs information from CB’s database of 31 million resumes and combines it with indexed online content from Bing. It allows employers to search the Web for potential employees’ social networking profiles, blogs, news articles, and forum posts, and is available free of charge to employers who use CareerBuilder’s Resume Database Service.

But fear not, Reputation.com was also at SHRM, seeking new ways to protect individual jobseekers’ good names on the Web. With MyReputation, we provide a deep-dive search that shows where your name is on the web beyond Bing’s indexed search results. If you find something unflattering, you can take advantage of our destroy services to remove damaging content before you apply for a job. You could also subscribe to MyEdge to make sure that employers find the information YOU want them to see when they search you on Bing.

With over 83% of hiring managers using search engines to research candidates, and 43% of them admitting to eliminating candidates based on negative information that they find, monitoring your online reputation has become a necessity. CareerBuilder’s Applicant Explorer makes HR managers’ access to your online info easier, so make sure to try MyReputation and MyEdge to ensure that you get a top-notch job offer.  Don’t forget, 24% of hiring managers said that they found information that solidified their decision to make a hire.

I happened across a helpful post on the LinkedIn blog by my old colleague Adam Nash.  Adam, who is leading many of LinkedIn’s headiest product initiatives, uses the post to endorse the power of the recommendations tool most LinkedIn users are already familiar with.  The whole post is worth checking out but I liked this sentence in particular, perhaps because it feels like so many of the things we have been writing here for the past few years:

“Your professional reputation and relationships matter – and not just to you.  That value extends far beyond your profile itself – it carries over to every interaction, every message, and every piece of contributed content.”

When I present to groups around the country, I always tell them to start their online reputation management with LinkedIn.  In our opinion, it remains the best all-around solution for professionals who want to establish themselves online.  Here are three LinkedIn tips for those who are just getting started and want to create a strong reputation.  I’ll post again later on with some additional tips for power users.

1 – Set a custom URL that features your name and mark it public.  I think that selecting your full name is best (e.g., Owen Tripp) as it lends authenticity and quality SEO to your page.  A senior guy at LinkedIn recently described this to me as “hanging your shingle on the Internet”.

2 – Write a few recommendations before you even start receiving them yourself.  This is important because it a) shows that you’re not somebody who is simply a “taker” within the LinkedIn community and b) gives people who view your profile a sense of the type of people you want to work with, and what traits you admire in them.

3 – Spend a lot of time thinking about the keywords you use, especially in the specialties section of your profile.  As my colleagues here at RD know, I can’t stand the word “strategic” because I don’t think it doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot. But I really love seeing specific skills that are “searchable”.   Some good examples: technical writer, business intelligence and data warehousing, food operations manager.  Some bad examples: growth focused team player, excellent collaborator, all purpose marketing contributor.  Sorry guys, but nobody searches LinkedIn for “excellent collaborator”.  You get the idea.

So go on now – get your LinkedIn profile cranking.  And when you see the power behind that tool, please check back with us and we’ll teach you some of the advanced tips and tricks.  You can always give our MyEdge team a call too at 877-720-6488.  They love talking about this stuff!