The fact that the Web is full of wackos is well known; all sorts of people like to rant about all sorts of pointless little things.  A new study shows that a lot of folks research customer care online, though, so reputation management continues to be an important matter.

The Society for New Communications Research found that “72.2% of respondents research companies’ customer care online prior to purchasing products and services at least sometimes,” according to Nathania Johnson.

Also - although this might be a more obvious conclusion - the respondents aren’t just looking these things up for their own amusement.  “84% of respondents consider the quality of customer care at least sometimes in their decision to do business with a company,” Johnson wrote.

You’re bound to run into the problem people have noticed for centuries, of course -satisfied customers walk quietly out the door, while angry ones will shout and fill out every form in sight.  But stats like these might give good reason to nudge the quiet types towards review sites and online forums.

Don’t forget to respond to online complaints, too; even if things are written in poor English and all caps, readers are likely to wonder whether the person on the other end had a genuinely bad experience.

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Despite some negative predictions, Google nailed another earnings report yesterday.  The search giant just can’t lose.  And for you, this probably means some pretty good things.

If you happen to own any Google stock, its 20 percent rise certainly can’t qualify as bad.  Granted, the stock remains far below its $747 high, but an increase of $95 per share in 18 hours’ time is nice.

Then there’s what this signifies for users of Google’s products.  As long as the company continues to do so well, payouts and upgrades should keep streaming right along.

Google’s success might also mean good things for the online economy as a whole.  People are apparently placing ads, clicking on them, and doing all the other things that generate cash at a faster pace than ever.  The recession doesn’t seem to have taken hold.

At least for the moment, the company’s success seems to equal a win for everyone.

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To anyone whose business is at the exact center of a city, this may not be great news.  But everyone else - which is probably the majority of people - seems to have been given a chance to get better positions in Google’s local business results.

In the old days (AKA last week and before), whatever business was closest to the center of a city was what Google stuck atop its listings.  Never mind if the business was small or big, new or old - if it was closer to the center of the city than everything else, it got a more prominent ranking.

Now, no one seems to be quite sure what goes into the standings, but they no longer follow geographic location alone.  On Search Engine Roundtable, Barry Schwartz points to where his own company has gained the “A” designation - even though a competitor is nearer to the middle of Suffern, NY - and other examples exist on the Search Engine Watch Forums.

Getting the top spot in Google’s local business results should be a valuable prize, and it’s likely to become even more important as people keep transitioning away from traditional phone books.

Check where your business stands, and if it’s not already ahead of the competition, perhaps see what sorts of reviews you can generate.

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If you don’t want to deal with SEO issues, that’s fine; some people have a knack for or interest in stuff that others simply don’t share.  But do yourself a favor and keep an eye on the final product.

Loren Baker brought up the issue of outsourcing yesterday.  Again, there’s nothing wrong with the concept, but a lot of money can be lost depending on how many levels the hand-off goes through.  When a company shows you a shiny new building, then hires another company that hires another company with a guy “working in a basement office with mattresses on the floor,” you’re likely overpaying.

Even aside from the cost, there can be issues with this scenario.  The basement guy may not have all the formal training and up-to-date equipment you were led to expect.  Or his tactics may not be as “white hat” as you’d like.

This isn’t to say you need to be on a first-name basis with an outside firm’s every employee, or check in on your own guys (or girls) every five minutes if tasks get handed off in a more limited fashion.  Just stay aware of the situation.

And as one last note: in the event this leads you to consider using software instead of people, well . . . think again.

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Blog, blog, and blog some more to promote yourself or your business, I’ve said in the past.  It’s a good idea, all right, but today we’ll look at a couple of things you need to be careful about.

An article by Geoff Simon identifies those things as medical and legal advice.  From there, you may be able to imagine a few more possibilities, but deaths and/or bankruptcies are pretty bad outcomes, so it seems best to concentrate on them.

Simon writes, “A blog that gives any sort of advice regarding either of these professions is simply asking for trouble. . . .  [I]t is inevitable that someone will take information from one of these sites, apply it to his own life, and meet with utter disaster. Then the blogger, his company, and probably the web server will become embroiled in a lawsuit.”

Simon goes on to close one possible “out,” adding, “Naturally, there would be an argument about personal responsibility and the fact that there was a disclaimer on the site discouraging action without receiving professional advice.  Yet disclaimers seem to have little impact on lawsuits anymore and most people admit to skipping over them when perusing a site.”

No one’s saying doctors and lawyers shouldn’t blog - the former could write about getting in new lollipops, at least - but a certain amount of caution certainly seems necessary.  Consider if the same sort of care needs to be taken when you’re writing; it’s hard to imagine that lawsuits are much fun.

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While using the snazziest possible methods to attract customers or readers is one approach, new stats underline the importance of keeping everything simple and friendly, too.  Jakob Nielsen reports that only 76 percent of the people in a certain group managed to do something as easy as perform a search on Google.

Nielsen writes, “Also, for this round of research we’re deliberately recruiting above-average users, so the success rate across all Internet users is probably lower than our finding. . . .  So, the fact that 1/4 of users can’t do it is a striking demonstration that you can’t rely on your own experience if you want to reach a broader audience.”

Gigantic “Click Here” signs, followed by instructions on whether to left- or right-click, might be a little much, but when considering both marketing and design, user-friendliness deserves some consideration.

Also, as speakers at SES New York and an entry on the Google Webmaster Central Blog have emphasized in the last week or so, search engines often appreciate high levels of usability, so you’ll be doing yourself a favor in more ways than one.

Hat tip to Tamar Weinberg.

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St. Patrick’s Day is approaching, and so - with no disrespect meant by mixing nations - now seems like a good time to look at a comparison of British pubs and social media.  A lot of good ideas about the former can apparently be arrived at after visiting one of the latter.

Matt Bailey’s the lucky bloke who went to the Twin Farms pub in Newcastle.  He discovered that it contained no televisions or jukeboxes, which cut down on distractions and put a focus on conversation.  This created a strong sense of community.

Regular customers were also comfortable and loyal enough to refer to the place as “my pub.”  Bailey notes, “Unless you feel a sense of pride in what is being built and a sense of participation in the success, then you don’t have a true investment in the community.”

So we wind up with dependable, happy, people who are more than willing to chat.  And yet, while these observations should encourage people to promote their products or services on social media sites, it’s still wise to take things slow.

In a follow-up to Bailey’s article, Jennifer Laycock points out that respecting the locals is an important part of entering a community.  And, to once again bring up an Irish theme, the thought of a certain bar scene in “The Boondock Saints” should remind everyone that social types don’t always want to mix business with pleasure.

In any event, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.

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Some people spend 12 hours a day in front of a computer; some people spend none.  If you’re targeting this second group at all (or just want to really surround the first), Google seems ready to help with improvements to its Audio Ads program and tests related to TV Ads.

Sometime yesterday, Google Audio Ads was integrated with Google Analytics; together, the two should give users an idea of whether their radio ads are actually having an effect on site traffic.  Guesswork will still be necessary when it comes to phone calls and in-person customers (assuming you receive these things), but the move should encourage a few more people to check out Audio Ads.

Also, if you’ve been waiting to get an ad on TV, it seems like an opportunity to do it with Google may be coming.  According to Pinny Cohen, certain AdWords members have been invited to try out a beta version of Google TV Ads.  Obviously, the success of this program remains unknown - an eventual Analytics tie-in would be helpful here - but it’s interesting.

Radio and television continue to reach nearly everybody.  Now, assuming you’re still in business, whatever you’ve been doing presumably works well enough.  The idea of having a few more options within the Google umbrella isn’t a bad thing, though, and if you’re so lucky as to find some extra money rattling around, the options might be worth checking out.

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At one time or another, most people want a red button - something that, when pushed, will more or less put an end to uncomplimentary comments (and the folks who write them).  There are ways of handling an online reputation that are both more realistic and less drastic, however.

People and businesses often have blogs.  Those that don’t can still get talked about on forums, and both blogs and forums show up in search results.  Now, I’m not claiming these ideas are undiscovered and universal truths - many of them come most recently from Andy Beal and Judy Strauss, and they’ve been tossed around countless times before - but they’re worth some thought.

First, consider whether an accusation is even worth a response.  Anonymous guests writing nonsense in poor English aren’t going to bring down your business anytime soon.  But if someone respectable shows up, a quick response to accusations is important - you don’t want to allow things to snowball.

If the person is wrong, say so.  Try to provide evidence, not emotion; all caps and exclamation points accomplish extremely little.  And whether the person is wrong or not,
Beal and Strauss suggest that you take control of the conversation.  They write, “By inviting customers to call your 1-800 number, publishing a post to your company blog, or broadcasting your own YouTube apology, you’ll ensure that your sincerity, transparency, and consistency, are not lost in the noise of someone else’s publishing platform.”

Hopefully these suggestions will help.  The advice of friends and colleagues can also be useful in reputation management.

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Call it a combination of bad news and a bit of reassurance: if your AdSense earnings are sinking, you’re not alone. Anecdotal evidence abounds, and a new (and admittedly unscientific) survey pretty much clinches the trend.

A total of 187 people responded to Barry Schwartz’s question on the subject, and 117 of them (or 63 percent) said their AdSense earnings are down from last year. Thirty-one individuals (or 17 percent of respondents) said their earnings are “about the same,” and only 39 people (or 21 percent of the total) thought their earnings had risen.

The discussion about what caused these changes remains lively - is it Google’s fault? the economy? this week’s eclipse? - but at least people who are affected by the problem now know they didn’t make some catastrophic mistake. Also, since Schwartz’s survey didn’t touch how much earnings have sunk, it’s possible that things aren’t quite as bad as they seem.

Meanwhile, if it’s any consolation (or just another piece of not-great news), Google’s continuing to take some hits on the stock market; the company is down $4.23, or 0.84 percent, so far today.

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