This week, Google rolled out a significant expansion of sitelinks, capping years of experimentation on the search feature. The changes have kicked off a big debate in the SEO community about how companies may be helped or hurt by the expanded sitelinks.

For those unfamiliar with sitelinks, they are links that appear underneath a search result that link to a sub-section of a website. As its “Inside Search” blog reveals, Google has been tweaking sitelinks since 2006, going from a small single line of sitelinks to the most recent version, which gives each sitelink its own full-size search result.

If you can’t see the expanded sitelinks yet, here are some illustrations using popular websites as examples.

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Some people, like Marketing Pilgrim’s Frank Reed, think that the new sitelinks are overkill. Others, like some of the commenters at Search Engine Land, argue that the sitelinks are fine, if only Google would allow site owners to change sitelinks via Google’s Webmaster Tools.  The one thing everyone agrees on, however, is that the new-look sitelinks make it even more important for brands (and personal brands) to secure the number one spot in Google search results and maintain interesting, content-rich websites.

What Google’s sitelinks change represents more than anything else is that the Web is constantly in flux. People will always turn to the Internet to find information — about the weather, about a new restaurant, or even about you. The way that people access that information, however, will change. In order to stay on top of your online reputation, it is important to stay current on the way search engines and social networks index and share information.

That’s what we’ve been doing at Reputation.com since 2006, and it’s what we’ll continue to do now and in the future.

In today’s Quick Hits, we offer some reputation management tips for police officers, talk about an odd new Facebook application, and ponder the privacy problems associated with smartphones and geolocation technology.

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PoliceOne.com: Survival Guide for Cops on Facebook

This article from PoliceOne.com explains why personal social networking profiles are a big risk for law enforcement professionals. In her article, Lauri Stevens offers advice on how police officers can protect their reputations and personal privacy by using Facebook responsibly. Reputation.com offers similar advice in our Resource Center article on Savvy Social Networking for Law Enforcement Officers.

Facebook Improves Search Results

According to AllFacebook, “Facebook appears to have upgraded its own search: the site now groups query results under category headings.” Facebook has become a dominant force on the Internet. Not only do millions of people use the website everyday, they spend lots of time on the site clicking around and visiting friends’ profiles. The better Facebook gets at improving navigation and search within the site, the stronger it will get, which is why traditional search websites like Google are working to integrate social features into their algorithms.

Facebook App Gives Relationship Alerts

Are you waiting for Mr./Mrs. Right, but they’re stuck in a relationship? Now, thanks to the Facebook Breakup Notifier, you don’t have to stalk their profile looking for changes in their relationship status. According to Doug Gross at CNN, the new free Facebook “is super simple — and will probably be super popular.” Gross continues writing, “It lets users pick certain friends whose relationship status they’d like to monitor. If one of those relationships changes, the user gets notified by e-mail…So, if that old high school flame suddenly becomes “single” or the receptionist you’ve pined for decides that her on-again, off-again relationship is now “complicated,” you can swoop right in.”

Today Show Tips on Facebook Sharing

In an article for the Today Show website, Anna Attkisson of Laptop magazine offers a number of tips for Facebook users to protect their privacy and reputations on the world’s largest social networking website. Attkisson also offers general advice on sharing etiquette and how to use some advanced features and third-party programs to schedule updates.

How Smartphones Will Reveal Your Every Move

In an article today for the Sydney Morning Herald, Julian Lee makes a compelling argument that our smartphones may soon reveal our every move to advertisers. Quoting from the article, “Within the next year, half the mobile phones in use will be smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone or Samsung’s Galaxy, embedded with technology that can pinpoint your position to within a metre.  Within three years the number of internet searches made through mobile phones will outstrip those via computers. Google has found that when a person gets a smartphone, the number of searches they make increases fiftyfold.”

The article goes into how geolocation tools work, how marketers will use smartphones to deliver geotargeted advertising, and what it means for individual privacy rights.

In today’s Quick Hits, the rest of the media world picks up on the bizarre story of a nursing student who was kicked out of her classes for posing for a picture with a placenta and posting it on Facebook. Also, Marissa Meyer talks about Google’s social shortcomings and some interesting stats on Facebook usage.

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Mainstream Media Picks Up on Story of Nursing Student Who Was Kicked Out of School for Placenta Photo

The Wall Street Journal, and other major newspapers, have picked up on the story I shared last week about a Kansas nursing student who was kicked out of her classes after posting a picture to Facebook posing alongside a human placenta that her class was studying. The student, who promptly removed the photo when asked, alleges that she had permission from her teacher, and that she was not given a proper hearing. In addition to the Wall Street Journal report, Forbes blogger Kashmir Hill also offered her take on the story.

71% of U.S. Web Users are on Facebook

According to a new iStrategyLabs report, there are146.8 million U.S. Facebook users. According to data from e-Marketer, which says that there are 206.2 million total U.S. internet users, that means that 71.2% of U.S. web users are on Facebook. In the last year, Facebook saw a 46% overall growth in the United States.

Volvo Contractor Fired for Calling Workplace to “Madhouse”

According to a UPI report, “a Swedish man said he was fired from a Volvo Powertrain engine plant for describing the facility as a ‘madhouse’ in a Facebook status update.” Although calling one’s workplace a madhouse seems fairly tame, the man’s superiors apparently fired him for the statement, alleging disloyalty. In the report, Marten Vikfors, head of media relations at Volvo Group AB, said workers are “expected to be ‘judicious’ and ‘show respect’ when using social media.”

Marissa Meyer Talks About Google’s Social Shortcomings

In an interview with MediaBistro’s MediaBeat, Google Vice President of Consumer Products, Marissa Meyer, talked about her company’s failure to fully embrace social media technology. Quoting from the interview, “One of the things that we’ve learned is that Google hasn’t gotten social right yet. That said, social is really important; it’s something that we’re working very hard on. I think that we will get it right. I think that if you look at some of the main platforms of the Web, it’s search, video, mobile and social. We’ve done really well in three out of those four, and we’re working very hard on the fourth.” Google is reportedly working on a social feature called Google Me, which seems to be a social sharing tool.

Is Quora the Next Big Thing in Social?

The question and answer website Quora is generating the same kind of buzz now that Twitter was generating back in 2008, leading some in the tech press to proclaim the company the next big thing in social media. In an article for the Telegraph, Milo Yiannopoulos explains why Quora may be more instantly accessible to users than Twitter, and why it will be much bigger than Twitter (if it deals with future issues like spam, abuse, etc).

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about the future of Internet advertising, whether Facebook is going to build a search engine, and how a resourceful car wash owner tracked down a TV thief on Facebook.

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AdKeeper Raises $35 Million Round of Funding

As debate rages on in Washington D.C. over the legality of Internet tracking and behavioral advertising, one company has received lots of attention for its innovative take on Web ads. AdKeeper, which recently raised a $35 million second round of funding, gives Internet surfers the chance to skip advertisements by clicking an icon and “keeping” interesting web ads to browse later. The company already has a large group of advertisers on board, and will likely release its first public product this year.

Wall Street Journal: What Your Facebook Page May Tell ID Thieves

With the sheer mass of information available about each one of us online, it’s no wonder identity theft is such a big problem. This article in the Wall Street Journal explains how information shared on one’s Facebook page can become perfect fodder for identity thieves. Even the most seemingly inconsequential piece of data can help an ID thief, because, as the article states, “thieves steal identities in pieces and layer them on each other for a clearer picture.” That’s why maintaining control over your Facebook profile, and your personal data elsewhere on the Web, is so important.

ZDNet: Definitive Facebook Lockdown Guide

To help people get started on their Internet privacy resolutions for the New Year, ZDNet has compiled a four part guide to locking down a Facebook account. The multi-step guide offers insight into every part of the Facebook experience, including some of the lesser known features that allow backdoor entrances into user profiles.

Search Engine Land: Is Facebook Search Inevitable?

In an interesting article for Search Engine Land, Greg Sterling wonders what Facebook has planned for its recently announced $500 million round of funding. After discussing possible tweaks to Internet advertising, Sterling writes that the next possible step for the company would be a proper move into search either through the acquisition of a social search company like Blekko or some further development with current investor Microsoft (and its search engine Bing).

Car Wash Owner Tracks Down (and Friends) Thief Via Facebook

The tech and gadget website Gearlog recounts the unusual story of how one man found justice after a thief stole a TV from his car wash. After learning that a TV was stolen from his business’ bathroom, the car wash owner looked over security tape and saw that the thief had previously paid for his service with a credit card. Using the name on the Credit Card receipt, the owner looked up the robber on Facebook and friended him. The thief, who apparently accepts friend requests from anyone, accepted the request, giving the owner access to the young man’s pictures. Once the owner determined that the thief was indeed the same young man, he offered him one chance to return the TV without police involvement. After the thief deleted the owner as a friend, the owner informed the police who promptly arrested the robber.

ClickZ: What to Expect From Online Privacy in 2011

In an article for the marketing news website ClickZ.com, Kate Kaye breaks down some of the big privacy events of 2010 and analyzes what they might mean for the issue of Internet privacy in 2011. Specifically, Kaye discusses Internet advertising and the likely introduction of stricter privacy laws and regulations, such as the FTC’s “Do Not Track” rule, in the new year.]

Woman Sues Four Companies Over “History Sniffing”

In an article for Forbes, privacy blogger Kashmir Hill writes that a New York woman has filed a federal lawsuit against McDonald’s, CBS, Mazda, and Microsoft for using the advertising agency Interclick to track her online behavior. An Interclick spokesperson said the case has no merit, but similar lawsuits have settled out of court in the past, proving that there may be good money for law firms interested in suing over privacy issues.

In today’s Quick Hits, Google and Facebook intensify their feud, a possible correlation between texting and risky behaviors among teens, and page previews in search results.

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Google Facebook Feud Escalates

Between poaching its employees and challenging its Internet advertising supremacy, Google has had enough of Facebook. Recently, the search giant lobbed a small shot across Facebook’s bow by telling Google users that Facebook will “trap” their data if they try and import their Google contacts into the popular social networking site. Before allowing a user to import their contacts, a Google pop-up message asks, “Are you super sure you want to import your contact information for your friends into a service that won’t let you get it out?” The message also allows users to register a complaint about “data protectionism.”

Teens Who Text More Likely to Drink and Have Sex?

A study from Case Western Reserve University has polarized technology advocates and child safety groups after it found a “a strong correlation between texting, time spent on social networking sites, and risky teenage behavior like drinking, smoking, drug use, and having sex.” Some experts argue that the correlation is not explained by the technology itself, but rather that teens who spend excessive time online or texting are less likely to have strong parental oversight.

Advice for Parents on Connecting With Their Kids on Facebook

Should parents be friends with their children on Facebook? In an advice column for the Chicago Tribune, which has since been syndicated to dozens of major newspapers across the country, Heidi Stevens talks about how she interacts with her kids on Facebook and offering other advice from parents and child safety experts.

Facebook Adds “Account Protection” Sidebar

According to Inside Facebook, “Facebook has implemented a new security feature called Account Protection which informs users of how secure their account is. The feature is displayed in a new sidebar module and as a status bar at the bottom of the “Update Your Security Information” page which debuted last month.” The feature helps prompt users to add additional account retrieval functions to help protect against spammers and hackers.

Google Offers Instant Page Previews from Search Results

Google is rolling out a new feature that will show an instant page preview of a website from search results, allowing a user to see the content of a page without clicking through to it. The potential effect that this change will have on businesses which rely on click-throughs for page impressions and advertising dollars remains to be seen, but from an online reputation management perspective, it makes it even more important that individuals and businesses maintain a professional presence on Google.