A new Search Engine Reputation Management issue
By Charles-Henry Ruyant
Most of the search engine reputation management (SERM) issues exist because people are unhappy with the brand or the company has some negative news (strikes, delays, redundancies…).
When I was looking for Louis Vuitton on Google UK, the results page wasn’t what I was expected. There were no negative results about the brand but there were some ‘affiliate websites’ which sell Louis Vuitton hand bags. So far nothing wrong, but when I had a closer look at these websites I realised that all of them are selling replicas! Probably some website hosted in China or another country where is difficult for Louis Vuitton to close them.
I am pretty sure that Louis Vuitton is spending a lot of money on legal action but doing nothing online regarding this issue. I am not sure that it is the right move…
This is why Louis Vuitton should set-up a search engine reputation management (SERM) campaign. Technically, they have to push down the replica websites on Google results page and it would be a lot more difficult for the people who are just looking for the brand to find these websites.
With this strategy they could possibly damage these websites more quickly than through lengthy legal actions…
This just goes to show how SERM can be used for different and unexpected situations.



October 12th, 2009
