Everyone wants to be #1 in Google. And if you’re not number 1, you are most likely vying for the next two positions. This is because the top 3 positions are the ones that bring in the most money. In the extremely competitive world of cyberspace, everyone certainly wants to be the top dog.

Fair business practices are what drive healthy competition, but such offensive online content directed against you is simply hitting below the belt. Sure, slander and libel may sometimes be considered part and parcel of free speech, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything about it.

Are you a victim of negative reviews because your company screwed up? Or are you a victim of malicious reviews posted online by a competitor? Customers often can’t tell the difference. Search engines results can be manipulated. And if you’re up against a competitor who wants to win by hook or by crook through slander and libel, you may find your brand completely wiped out someone who is posing as an unhappy customer all over the Internet.

Should you find yourself in such an unfortunate situation where a website gets a high page rank for an important keyword to your business, and it badmouths your products or services online, take heart. As they say, there are many ways to skin a cat. In this particular instance, however, only a few of the methods stand out to have any lasting result. Here are some things you can do separately or together.

For one thing, you can choose to ignore them and hope that the results vanish in time without lifting a finger. Another way is to send a demand letter to the website owner or hosting to delete the offending content with a warning of pending litigation if not done immediately. If they don’t believe you, bring them to court with a civil suit for substantial compensatory damages. Lastly, talk to a third-party professional to bury the defamation slander under tons of positive or neutral ones through reputation online repair services.

You’re obviously not going to get any result in the first option and even the second is a leap of faith that the site owner will respond favorably to your request if they know what’s good for them. Some web hosting firms will suspend an offensive site if they are violating the terms, but sites with malicious intent won’t. In fact, they’ll be careful not to!

Your next option would be to go to court. You can try to exact damages for defamation of character and cause the site to be taken offline permanently with a court order. But like any court proceeding, this is an expensive and time-consuming solution and you may not always see a resolution in your favor.

The best solution is to take positive aggressive action with regards to reputation management so you can overcome all the negative comments by your online detractors. In this day and age, it is not enough for brand owners to just promote their products or services. They must be prepared to ensure brand protection as well. This applies to both online and brick-and-mortar businesses. Make sure to get professional help and manage online reputation immediately.

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