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CHENNAI: Skeletons in your online closet? Enter the reputation manager. Like real world clean-up crews that sweep in with mops, sponges and hospital grade disinfectants to wipe a crime scene spotless, online reputation managers come armed with the right HTML tags and search engine optimization techniques to make sure the murky digital footprints you have left behind vanish from twitter trends and web searches. So the good stays good, the bad is eliminated, and the ugly gets a makeover. While larger organizations have been using online reputation managers (ORM) for years now, ORM heads say they are now being approached by individuals from across Indian metros who want the worldwide web wiped clear of unflattering information. "From company CEOs caught in sexual harassment suits to middle-level managers wanted for fraud to NRI brides-to-be, a whole host of individuals are seeking our services," said Sathish Isaac, co-founder of Chennai-based Virtual Social Media, which handles reputation management cases. One of his recent clients is an NRI arrested for soliciting during a prostitution sting in a small county in the US, news that made it to front page of the county's local daily. He approached Isaac's firm for a clean-up and a few months later, a search of the man's name throws up the strangest of results — from a video message on the environment to random opinions on Android apps. As for the solicitation case, which was originally the first search result on the man's name - well, that appears on the bottom of the second page of the search. "We will tip it into the third page soon," says Isaac, who adds that research shows that 90% of web searches end at the first page. 75% cases related to sexual abuse While Isaac says cases relating to sexual harassment or conspiracy constitute 75 per cent of his cases, Noida-based Babita Garg, founder of Sanguine Solutions, says in her company fraud and money laundering top the list of individuals seeking ORMs. She has had to cover up the reputations of several high net-worth individuals caught for fraud or money laundering. "Recently, one of our clients was caught with huge sums of unaccounted cash at the Hyderabad airport. In the real world the case was cleared up, but doing the same online took months," she says. Sexual harassment cases are another reason for a clean-up job. "Several mid-level managers hire us because they are accused or named in sexual harassment cases. While their names are usually left out of the print media, the internet is not so kind. Their names pop up in online case listings and whether innocent or guilty, it can be embarrassing. While we cannot hide the truth, we cover it up as much as possible using virtual clutter," says Isaac. Of late, a number of NRI brides-to-be are seeking such services because they are being blackmailed by people who had posed as potential bridegrooms on matrimonial sites. "Indians are a lot more cautious online. NRIs unfortunately can be trusting," says Isaac. Clearing your name online doesn't come cheap. While some firms charge an initial fee of over Rs 5 lakh and then monthly retainers that can extend from six months to a couple of years, others charge monthly amounts of around Rs 70,000 to ensure that things in the online world remain sunny side up. "The life of a tweet is just 30 minutes but if it begins to trend, then it stays alive longer. If someone blogs on it, or shares it on a social network site, the clean-up gets more difficult," says Isaac. Garg says their work involves creating multiple but genuine social network profiles to blogs to positive tweets, tweaking the software behind the scenes, and even convincing the source of the information to withdraw it. "We have a lot on our radars. And you have to keep tracking it so that the data does not return to the top," she says. Isaac adds, "But you need to make sure things are done ethically. You cannot commit fraud." In May, sensing the potential in the market, Delhi-based start-up Prudence Analytics Software Solutions created an online tool that helps keep track of one's reputation online. "It pulls out all the 'relevant' words regarding a person and helps you segregate the good from bad, and even override the bad," says company founder Sameer Narkar. Individuals can also set up alerts for future reference. As for the market potential, while there are no real numbers, Isaac says he is currently juggling the reputations of around 70 individuals online, a marked increase from the four enquiries a year he was getting in 2011. Source : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-08/india/41872911_1_sexual-harassment-cases-money-laundering-solicitation-case
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