If the term “Water Army” makes you think of a Lord of the Rings-style battle, then you’re going to learn a lot in this article. This article is from Search Engine Watch, one of the most interesting websites about reputation management around. I highly suggest frequenting this website if you want to learn more about online reputation management services. In this article, they discuss a recent controversy where Facebook was caught paying a PR firm to encourage bloggers and media outlets to print negative stories about Google privacy issues (pot, meet kettle). So, where does the water army come in?

As a brand marketer targeting China, it’s easy to get local PR firms that hire the water army – better known in Chinese as “Shui Jun” – to post positive comments about your company or negative comments about a competitor on the Internet under the guise of e-PR.

This “army” could number from a few hundred to thousands of anonymous Internet users that will delete or post comments to influence public opinion dictated by the PR firms.

The water army is essentially a large group of paid commenters online. They post about your company, product, or service according to how the PR firm directs them to in exchange for cash. This is common in China because of the sheer number of individuals who can be gainfully employed by a Western company or a company with Western clients.

It is always interesting to see where the discussions about search engine reputation management pop up. In this case, it is a discussion amongst scientists about how reputation management services affect their industry. It turns out, scientists care a great deal about how they are perceived, both by their peers and by others.

Ugh. This doesn’t work. Anyone searching for information on Dr Anil Potti who discovers blithering press releases like “Dr. Anil Potti Likes Spending Quality Time With His Wife And Three Daughters” is going to sniff out the scent of a stinker. Not to mention that Dr Anil Potti, his misconduct investigation, and his pathetic attempts to cover it up, have now achieved prominent mention in both Nature and Pharyngula.

In the blockquote above, the author is discussing a cancer researcher who is under investigation for various reasons. However, he fails to understand the difference between well done internet reputation management and the firms that simply try to bury negative comments or news under an avalanche of content. Besides, many firms in the online reputation management industry wouldn’t work for this researcher for ethical reasons.

There are a host of industries for which search engine reputation management is an indispensable part of doing business effectively. The automotive sales industry is one of those industries which depends upon google reputation management for success. If a dealership does not properly utilize its online reputation, then it is putting itself at a comparative disadvantage. This guy seems to get it, at least.

Online Reputation Management was a big topic too. If your dealership comes up on Google Places (the map thing) you better check the reviews of your dealership. According to Brian Pasch of PCG, if your reviews are bad, you are selling cars for your competitors. Fortunately there are solutions to improve your online reputation.

The industry of car sales is hyper-competitive. It usually involves competition amongst geographic areas, brand names, and then dealerships even within the brand. The incredibly competitive environment leads many dealerships to understand the importance of online leads and, as an extension of that, online reputation.