Reputation Advocate Announces Authentic Reviews for Online Reputation Defense. ReputationAdvocate.com is an online reputation management company providing services to individuals

1. Reputation Advocate (ReputationAdvocate.com) Launches
Global Online AuthenticReviews
Reputation Advocate (ReputationAdvocate.com) announces an expanded service geared to small
business clients. Until now, company owners have had few solutions to address the false reviews
damaging their business in local search results. A solution had to be provided and Reputation Advocate
has stepped into the gap for clients with its offering AuthenticReviews.
Nashville, TN – (March 4, 2010) Nashville, Tennessee-based Reputation Advocate
(ReputationAdvocate.com) continues to expand its online reputation management services as it
addresses the ever-changing needs for small business on the Internet. Reputation Advocate,
which provides online reputation management, defense and consulting throughout North
America, has identified issues that were not pervasive as recently as twelve months ago. “As
online complaint sites began to develop it was pretty easy to define a site that was involved in
blatant slander,” said Steven Wyer, Managing Director for Reputation Advocate. Wyer added
that the landscape of online attacks has expanded so quickly that many companies have been
caught off guard. The negative content found on web portals that are perceived as legitimate
review sites by most users of the Internet has multiplied. Such sites are generally perceived with
a high level of trust, and when false information appears on these sites it can seriously damage
local business. Reputation Advocate has also noted that, according to Google, 80% of consumers
who are looking for a local service or product go through the Google search engine. Secondly, 7
out of 10 consumers who are shopping for a local service or product read reviews.
Reputation Advocate reports that some business owners have countered the negative review sites
by submitting fictitious reviews created by someone other than an actual customer. Prior to
Reputation Advocate’s AuthenticReviews, reviews by actual customers have been historically
hard to obtain. “It is one thing for a customer to fill out a three by five index card about their
experience and hand it to you, it is another process altogether to have a customer log in to a
review site, set up an account and then type in their honest impressions of their experience,”
asserts Wyer. Online reputation management firms like Reputation Advocate that utilize best
practices will always avoid these workarounds as they can ultimately damage a client.
Reputation Advocate brainstormed about this issue last year and the result has been the launch of
a new service to harness real customer sentiment without the challenges associated with a valued
customer being repeatedly bothered.
“AuthenticReviews works on the top search engines and review directories; everything that
Reputation Advocate does is specific to each industry area so that results are achieved as
effectively as possible,” said Wyer. “Reviews on sites such as Local.Google.com,
Local.Yahoo.com, yellowbot, judysbook and others can be addressed honestly and transparently.
Any Reputation Advocate client utilizing this new solution will be able to represent that the
reviews found on these sites are real and true. We believe that this raises the bar and adds further
depth to the integrity of our processes.”

2. While online reputation repair companies have offered online reviews to businesses for some
time, the content is sometimes biased and does not ring true to the reader. Reputation Advocate
clients are not only focused on getting negative reviews addressed but also providing authentic
customer reviews. When done correctly, Reputation Advocate clients report seeing higher page
rankings, improved conversion and solid retention of customers.
In addition to AuthenticReviews, Reputation Advocate facilitates comprehensive online defense
projects for individuals, professionals, companies and organizations. The exponential growth
over the last twelve months from a few core complaint sites to literally hundreds is concerning.
While virtually all third party host sites stand on free speech and the constitution, the vicious
nature of anonymous online slander has grown faster than traditional legal and public relations
strategies can address. According to Reputation Advocate, former employees, competitors and
voices from the past can destroy a business before they are even detected.
Traditional mediation channels such as the Better Business Bureau are not equipped to deal with
faceless, nameless attacks. Aggressive online reputation management is the only pragmatic
solution available today. Steven Wyer pointed out that Reputation Advocate is one of only a
handful of firms that provides structured payment processing to be remitted by true credit cards
or debit cards. While many firms request payment by bank draft, check or PayPal, Reputation
Advocate believes that client recourse is an integrated component of trust. Wyer says that
Reputation Advocate approaches a project as a partnership. The hope is that the combination of
trust and validation will build strong, long term relationships.
For further information about Reputation Advocate’s online reputation management services and AuthenticReviews
contact Reputation Advocate domestically at 888-229-0746, internationally at 011-615-818-4957 or visit them
online at: www.ReputationAdvocate.com.