I’ve just added managing the Google profile to the checklist for all of my clients.  There are a lot of things online that one can’t control, but we need to spend our energy on those things we can control.

How to Manage Your Reputation Online

By Azadeh Ensha

On Tuesday, Google announced that it had started displaying Google profile results on name queries to help give users more control over their Google identity.

As anyone who has been Googled knows, unflattering results of your name or company — especially when listed in the first several pages — can run the gamut from embarrassing to damaging.

Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to remove content from Google. The search engine’s rule of thumb is to send you to the webmaster of the site, which often owns the content in question and has final veto power over its removal. As for Google profile, it runs at the bottom of United States name-query search pages, which means potentially damaging items will still be prominently highlighted in the search results.

Full text available at http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/how-to-manage-your-reputation-online/