God, Google, and the Polls

Google and God run neck-in-neck in terms of institutions Britons trust, says new polling data.

A full 17 percent of those surveyed overall had equal trust in Google and religious institutions. Even more astonishing: nearly 30 percent of those ages 16-24 place a higher degree of trust in Google. In contrast, only 17 percent of that age group ranked religious institutions as having their best interests at heart.

Think about that: some people have more faith in Google’s search algorithm than they do in their churches, temples and mosques! That’s fairly staggering.

Setting aside any debate on the prominence of religious institutions, the belief in the validity of search results underscores how now more than ever, it’s essential to monitor and manage your online reputation.

Why?

From my own experience with our clients, I can tell you that while search results are very, very good much of the time on objective topics – like why tigers have stripes or how long an intestine is – they can falter when it comes to individuals.

We’ve seen ex-spouses who create blogs dedicated to character assassination. Disgruntled employees who snap up an employer’s domain name. Competitors who post false reviews. One mild, early mistake in an otherwise exemplary life, resurfacing and hobbling chances for meaningful employment. An ill-considered tweet or Facebook post that is reflective of a person five years ago, not now.

Google is not God. It’s not the First Amendment. There is no “truth assessment” code written into the algorithm of any search engine (nor could there be). But if the trust is there, but the accuracy is not, then it's imperative to be able to correct the record.

When people take a proactive role in their online presence – from writing their own blogs to creating a stellar LinkedIn profile – they give themselves a fighting chance at a fair assessment, born from a better balance of information. That’s incredibly important given that the overwhelming majority of people never move past page two of search results (and some, never past page one).

How do you monitor your own online reputation? Do you take any steps to ensure people encounter accurate information about you?