Sue Scheff: Google Bomb: Expert Solutions to Protect Yourself from Online Attacks and Maintain a Searchable Image

Pre-Order Google Bomb on Amazon.com today!

Our society has reached an all-time low. Simple keystrokes can now literally ruin lives, reputations, and cause years of suffering, and require exorbitant amounts of time, money, and sanity to rebuild a life and/or career that has been shattered by cyberbullying, Internet defamation, identity theft, privacy invasion, and so much more. There is even a term that has emerged into our lexicon that describes the practice of manipulating the ranking of web pages: Google Bomb.

Sue Scheff knows first hand about the devastating effects of Google bombing and Internet defamation. Her reputation was destroyed and she almost lost her business because of false and libelous statements about her and her business that went viral. Falling into a deep depression accompanied by agoraphobia, Sue could not escape the abusive attacks from strangers and the paranoia that accompanies such abuse. However, she fought back, and sued the figure head who launched the attack campaign and was awarded a jury verdict of $11.3 million--a case that has set the precedent for a massive debate on Internet regulation vs. free speech and Internet etiquette and safety policies.

Because there is so much to navigate and know about the unknown and mostly unchartered legal territories of Internet usage, Sue has rounded up some of the world's most preeminent experts on the newly emerging business of Internet law, including attorney John W. Dozier. In Google™ Bomb, Dozier and Scheff offer a hybrid of memoir and prescriptive self-help, as well as a timely call to action that will arm readers with what they can do to avoid falling victim to cyber abuse, rebuild their own ruined reputations, or avoid unknowingly committing a crime against strangers on the Internet.

Written with two markets in mind: those hundreds of thousands of people who are victims of Internet harassment and cannot afford legal council to help clean up their reputations, and those who have built a career, business, and personal reputation and want to be armed with protection and prevention techniques that will help them avoid falling victim to cyber bullies, hackers, e-vengers, and Phreaks.

The true-life story of Sue Scheff's landmark lawsuit and the lessons she learned coupled with invaluable expert advice from a top Internet legal and reputation defense expert, Google™ Bomb is a heavy-hitting, one-of-a-kind book that will likely spark debate, controversy, and save lives at the same time.

Is Twitter the New Google?

Source: ReputationDefender Blog

Unless you’ve been under a rock or in some cave for the last year you’ve probably heard of Twitter. Put succinctly, Twitter is a 140 character micro-blogging service that allows you to follow other people on the network, and have them follow you in return. Really no different from any other blog-type service or network except for the 140 character limitation and the embedded follow and display functions that display on the user’s page.

Recently Twitter added a new level of functionality to its site, incorporating a search feature into the main page. The development had been announced in February, and many in the industry see the move as a step towards profitability and –possibly– a threat to Google’s status as the Lord of the Search Engines.

While Twitter is not at present a direct threat to Google, the addition of search functionality does put it squarely in the same arena as Facebook and Google. In addition to the search function, (which, it should be noted was always available at search.twitter.com, but as of March 6th has appeared on more user pages) Twitter is also adding a “trends” function that will display the most popular recent topics of site traffic. No doubt, Google and Facebook, which have both been looking for ways to expand their efforts in the social networking sphere, will take a long look at this development to see if they can innovate, copy or destroy.

“A search function offers opportunities to sell online advertising. For years there’s been a notion of capturing eyeballs and, once you have them on the site, leveraging that relationship for additional revenues,” Charles King, an analyst with Pund-IT Research, said in an interview. “I can see how it would work for certain people in an organization, but it can suck the time out of your day,” King said. “It’s not quite a defined benefit yet.”

Twitter has risen in prominence very rapidly, but with the increased popularity has come a few issues, particularly concerns over phishing vulnerabilities. Last year there was a widely-reported Twitter-based phishing campaign designed to steal account data with promises of an iPhone. Biz Stone, Twitter’s co-founder, cautioned that privacy issues surrounding text messages may arise in connection with Twitter in the future.

Sue Scheff: Slimed Online? Look for New Internet Book

Yesterday my co-author, John Dozier and I, announced our exciting new book that will be released in fall 2009 from Health Communications, Inc. Then I read this article that I could really identify with. Slimed Online from Portfolio.com.

Michael Fertik, CEO and Founder of ReputationDefender, was powerful force in helping these women fight for their online image. As a client of ReputationDefender, their services are priceless - although there seems to be many of these services popping up now, as the demand grows, I feel that in my experiences, the pioneer of these online reputation management companies start with ReputatationDefender.

Our new book, Google Bomb, will be a must read for anyone and everyone that works and plays online. From protecting your online profile and reputation, to keeping your kids safe, this new book is a must have - and can potentially help you from being a victim of wicked and evil keystrokes.

Years ago gossip was limited to a geographically area that you live in. Today gossip goes viral worldwide! Your one former friend is now a foe or a few clients out of years of a reputable business have decided to take revenge via e-venge! Take cover, Google Bomb can help you protect yourself.