Senior Quality Assurance Engineer
We’re seeking an experienced Senior Quality Assurance Engineer to join our team and lead QA initiatives across our in house and SaaS platforms. The ideal candidate will combine technical expertise with strategic thinking to implement and maintain comprehensive testing frameworks.
Five Blocks is a digital reputation pioneer, shaping perceptions of companies and individuals through thoughtful planning of their digital footprint — as seen in search. Using proprietary technology and data-driven diagnostics, we analyze a brand’s internet presence and map out a more accurate, intentional, and strategic reputation for our clients, together with their communications teams.
Our clients include some of the best-known companies in the world, as well as notable individuals who expect premium standards of service and support.
At Five Blocks, our technology team stands at the forefront of innovation, where sharp minds and self-driven learners thrive. We believe in growing talent through hands-on experience, rewarding initiative with increased responsibility and exciting project opportunities. Our dynamic technology department leverages a modern tech stack including Python, PHP, NodeJS, VueJS, and JavaScript, alongside both SQL and NoSQL databases (MySQL and MongoDB). Operating in a Linux environment and harnessing AWS technologies, our team members continuously expand their expertise across multiple domains. We foster an environment where curiosity meets capability, and where your growth is limited only by your ambition. Join us to be part of a team that values technical excellence, continuous learning, and the drive to push boundaries in everything we do.
The Senior QA Engineer’s responsibilities include:
- Design and implement comprehensive test strategies and frameworks for complex applications, including automated, manual, and performance testing
- Lead end-to-end testing efforts across multiple product features and releases, ensuring high-quality deliverables that meet business requirements
- Develop and maintain automated test suites using industry-standard tools and best practices
- Collaborate with developers, product managers, and stakeholders to understand requirements and provide quality-focused input during the planning phase
- Establish and track quality metrics, providing regular reports on test coverage, defect trends, and quality indicators
- Drive continuous improvement in testing processes and methodologies
- Participate in code reviews and provide feedback on testability and quality aspects
- Lead bug triage sessions and manage defect lifecycle across multiple projects
- Perform root cause analysis on defects to identify underlying issues
- Update existing test cases based on changes in business requirements
- Create new test data to support the execution of test cases
- Maintain a library of all test artifacts
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
- 5+ years of experience in software quality assurance
- Strong experience with automated testing frameworks and tools (e.g., Selenium, Cypress, TestNG, JUnit)
- Proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g., Python, Java, JavaScript)
- Experience with API testing and tools like Postman, REST Assured, or similar
- Strong understanding of SQL and database testing
- Experience with continuous integration/continuous deployment pipelines
- Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills
- Collaborate with the development team to ensure quality and functionality.
- Excellent English – spoken and written
- Self-motivated and independent learner
- Team-oriented, methodical and organized
- Energetic and willing to work in a fast paced environment
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with performance testing tools (e.g., JMeter, K6, LoadRunner)
- Knowledge of security testing principles and tools
- Experience with SAAS products
- Familiarity with agile methodologies and tools (JIRA, Confluence)
- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS)
You are:
- A self-starter and curious, independent learner
- Service-oriented and personable with excellent communication skills.
- Organized and methodical.
- A strong independent thinker with excellent problem solving skills: You ask the right questions at the right time.
The position is full-time, onsite in the Jerusalem area.
We have a gym, catered lunch, flex-time, and other perks.
Send your C.V. to jobs@fiveblocks.com or Apply
Full-Stack Developer
We are seeking a proven full-stack developer to join our R&D Team. The right candidate will bring a greater level of sophistication to a currently successful product set; he or she will be an integral part of the ongoing development of new technologies that will broaden our offerings to an impressive and sophisticated clientele.
Five Blocks is a digital reputation pioneer, shaping perceptions of companies and individuals through thoughtful planning of their digital footprint — as seen in search. Using proprietary technology and data-driven diagnostics, we analyze a brand’s internet presence and map out a more accurate, intentional, and strategic reputation for our clients, together with their communications teams.
Our clients include some of the best-known companies in the world, as well as notable individuals who expect premium standards of service and support.
At Five Blocks, our technology team stands at the forefront of innovation, where sharp minds and self-driven learners thrive. We believe in growing talent through hands-on experience, rewarding initiative with increased responsibility and exciting project opportunities. Our dynamic technology department leverages a modern tech stack including Python, PHP, NodeJS, VueJS, and JavaScript, alongside both SQL and NoSQL databases (MySQL and MongoDB). Operating in a Linux environment and harnessing AWS technologies, our team members continuously expand their expertise across multiple domains. We foster an environment where curiosity meets capability, and where your growth is limited only by your ambition. Join us to be part of a team that values technical excellence, continuous learning, and the drive to push boundaries in everything we do.
The Full-Stack Developer is responsible for:
- Developing web technologies, server-side and client-side
- Maintaining code, troubleshooting, and solving issues on live sites and systems
- Building of new systems and features – backend, frontend
You have:
- 3 years experience with software development
- 2 years experience with Linux
- 2 years experience with PHP/JavaScript/CSS
- 1 year experience with Mysql
- Experience with Web Services (JSON, REST)
Nice to have:
- GoLang skills
- Python skills
- AWS skills
You are:
- Organized and methodical
- Team player AND self-starter with a can-do approach
- Strong independent thinker with good problem solving skills
- Able to plan big picture strategy and juggle small logistics – you are flexible, detail oriented, organized and able to manage multiple fast-paced projects simultaneously
You are also:
- Unafraid and professionally hungry
The position is full-time, onsite in the Jerusalem area. We have a gym, catered lunch, flex-time, and other perks.
Send your CV to jobs@fiveblocks.com or Apply
Development Team Leader
We are seeking a proven tech manager and developer to lead our R&D Team. The right candidate will bring a greater level of sophistication to a currently successful product set; he or she will be an integral part of the ongoing development of new technologies that will broaden our offerings to an impressive and sophisticated clientele.
Five Blocks is a digital reputation pioneer, shaping perceptions of companies and individuals through thoughtful planning of their digital footprint — as seen in search. Using proprietary technology and data-driven diagnostics, we analyze a brand’s internet presence and map out a more accurate, intentional, and strategic reputation for our clients, together with their communications teams.
Our clients include some of the best-known companies in the world, as well as notable individuals who expect premium standards of service and support.
At Five Blocks, our technology team stands at the forefront of innovation, where sharp minds and self-driven learners thrive. We believe in growing talent through hands-on experience, rewarding initiative with increased responsibility and exciting project opportunities. Our dynamic technology department leverages a modern tech stack including Python, PHP, NodeJS, VueJS, and JavaScript, alongside both SQL and NoSQL databases (MySQL and MongoDB). Operating in a Linux environment and harnessing AWS technologies, our team members continuously expand their expertise across multiple domains. We foster an environment where curiosity meets capability, and where your growth is limited only by your ambition. Join us to be part of a team that values technical excellence, continuous learning, and the drive to push boundaries in everything we do.
The Development Team Leader is responsible for:
- Managing and growing a team of seasoned developers
- Development architecture, standards, and processes
- Working with the product team and stakeholders throughout the company to define priorities; plan new products and features; and resolve software issues
- Leadership and mentoring of the development team through the product life cycle toward successful project delivery: architecture, design, development, quality assurance, and production (30% of time: team management; 70% of time: hands-on tasks)
- Working closely with the IT Manager
- Building new systems and features – backend, frontend
You have:
- At least 5 years of proven experience managing a development team
- Strong leadership skills for coaching and mentoring (preferably in a start-up environment)
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills
- Proven web and software development expertise and ingenuity
- Experience with design and management of architecture
- Experience with Linux /PHP/JavaScript/CSS /Mysql
- Experience with Web Services (JSON, REST)
- GoLang skills
You are:
- Organized and methodical
- A true team player AND a self-starter with a can-do approach
- A strong independent thinker with good problem solving skills
- A native-level English speaker (additional languages an advantage)
- Able to plan big picture strategy and juggle small logistics – you are flexible, very detail oriented, organized, and able to manage multiple fast-paced projects simultaneously
You are also:
- Unafraid and professionally hungry
- Service oriented and personable
The position is full-time, onsite in the Jerusalem area. We have a gym, catered lunch, flex-time, and other perks.
Send your CV to jobs@fiveblocks.com or Apply
IT System Admin / Dev Ops
We are seeking a proven IT System Admin / DevOps to join our Technology Team. The right candidate will be an integral part of our growing professional team and emerging proprietary technologies.
Five Blocks is a digital reputation pioneer, shaping perceptions of companies and individuals through thoughtful planning of their digital footprint — as seen in search. Using proprietary technology and data-driven diagnostics, we analyze a brand’s internet presence and map out a more accurate, intentional, and strategic reputation for our clients, together with their communications teams.
Our clients include some of the best-known companies in the world, as well as notable individuals who expect premium standards of service and support.
At Five Blocks, our technology team stands at the forefront of innovation, where sharp minds and self-driven learners thrive. We believe in growing talent through hands-on experience, rewarding initiative with increased responsibility and exciting project opportunities. Our dynamic technology department leverages a modern tech stack including Python, PHP, NodeJS, VueJS, and JavaScript, alongside both SQL and NoSQL databases (MySQL and MongoDB). Operating in a Linux environment and harnessing AWS technologies, our team members continuously expand their expertise across multiple domains. We foster an environment where curiosity meets capability, and where your growth is limited only by your ambition. Join us to be part of a team that values technical excellence, continuous learning, and the drive to push boundaries in everything we do.
The Information Technology System / DevOps Administrator is responsible for system and network administration, and for providing technical support to a team of 60+ users working with both advanced technology and day-to-day IT tools. This includes troubleshooting diverse issues and overseeing the maintenance and management of servers.
The position is onsite in our offices.
Responsibilities include:
- Efficient system and network administration, ensuring robustness and security.
- Providing end-to-end technical support and troubleshooting to minimize downtime.
- Proactively managing servers, docker containers, and cloud services, primarily within AWS.
- Implementing, administering and troubleshooting Windows/Linux Desktops and Servers, ensuring optimal performance.
- Managing Active Directory, including setup, user accounts, and security protocols.
- Overseeing and optimizing networking infrastructure, including TCP/IP, DNS, and WIFI configurations.
- Developing and maintaining automation scripts in PHP, Python, and Bash to enhance system efficiency.
- Spearheading research, acquisition, and implementation of new tools and services from inception to deployment, demonstrating innovation and independence.
You must have:
- A minimum of 3 years of experience in IT (2 years+) / DevOps (1 year+), with demonstrated expertise in system and network administration.
- Advanced proficiency in AWS Cloud Services, (VPC, Architecture, Networking, Security, EC2, S3, RDS, ECS, Lambda)
- Strong background in managing Windows/Linux Desktops and Servers.
- Comprehensive knowledge of Active Directory and networking protocols (TCP/IP, DNS, WIFI).
- Skills in scripting with PHP, Python, and Bash for automation and system management.
- Excellent problem-solving capabilities and communication skills, suitable for a fast-paced work environment.
- Relevant certifications in System Administration, AWS, or related fields.
- Experience with DevOps & Monitoring tools, notably Ansible, Zabbix, and Jenkins, AWS Developer Tools.
You are:
- A self-starter and curious, independent learner
- Service-oriented and personable with excellent communication skills.
- Organized and methodical.
- Able to independently lead projects, showing a high level of initiative and creativity.
- Looking to grow professionally, as an individual and as a team member.
- A strong independent thinker with excellent problem solving skills: You ask the right questions at the right time.
The position is full-time, in the Jerusalem area, and will require weekend on-call hours (not Shabbat).
We have a gym, catered lunch, flex-time, and other perks.
Send your C.V. to jobs@fiveblocks.com or Apply
The 20-Step Guide to Rebranding Your Company Online: Our Advice on Entrepreneur
Your company’s online presence plays an important role in how your brand is discovered and how it is perceived by stakeholders. From a digital reputation perspective, how can a company ensure the transition to the new brand is seamless?
To ensure a smooth transition and maintain and enhance your evolving digital reputation, we recommend these 20 essential action items to consider when rebranding your company:
Business Development Associate
As a Business Development Associate, you will play a key role in the continuing growth of our company by researching, identifying, and qualifying potential leads. The primary focus is on setting the stage for conversations with appropriate potential clients and partners.
Five Blocks is a digital reputation pioneer, shaping perceptions of companies and individuals through thoughtful planning of their digital footprint — as seen in search.
We are a digital reputation management firm providing technology and services to a large variety of top companies and organizations, mostly in the US.. Our work is focused primarily on helping brands manage how they appear in Google, Wikipedia, and AI-powered search.
We use our proprietary technology and data-driven diagnostics to analyze a brand’s internet presence and, working closely with the company’s communications team, we map out a more deliberate digital presence for our clients.
Our clients include well-known brands and individuals in fields including financial services, healthcare, hospitality, education, and philanthropy. Our clients and PR partners choose Five Blocks because we provide premium technology, services, and support.
Responsibilities include:
- Research: Conduct research to identify potential customers and partners within target industries or market segments.
- Sales Funnel: Qualify leads based on established criteria to ensure alignment with our ideal customer/partner profile; Schedule appointments for the biz dev team with qualified leads; Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of all interactions.
- Communications: Clearly and effectively articulate the value proposition of our products/services.; Collaborate with sales and marketing teams to align consistent brand messaging.
- Content: Use analytics tools (including our own IMPACT and AIQ) to prequalify leads as well as glean insights, create data sets, and prepare snapshots to assist in the production of relevant reports.
- Skills Training: Participate in ongoing training programs to enhance product knowledge, sales skills, and industry awareness.
You have:
- Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, or a related field
- 2+ years of professional experience, preferably in sales or business development
- Excellent English language communication skills, both written and verbal
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build rapport quickly
- Goal-oriented approach, with a desire to succeed in a sales-driven environment
- Strong attention to detail and organizational skills
- Web and technology literacy; ability to learn quickly
- Experience using Excel, Word, and Powerpoint in a professional environment
- Self-starter; capable of multitasking, research and problem-solving; strong work ethic
Nice to have:
- Knowledge of SEO / online reputation management
- Customer success experience in a highly professional environment
- Content creation / graphics experience a strong advantage
- Experience and interest in use of Generative AI tools like ChatGPT
What’s in it for you:
- The opportunity to play a significant role in a highly successful company poised for a burst of growth
- Skills training in a challenging field
- An empathic, warm workplace with honest, good people
- An English-language work environment
- Office gym, company subsidized lunches, active culture committee, coffee options for nearly every quirk
- Competitive salary and benefits
The position is full-time from our offices in the larger Jerusalem area. We have multiple open positions.
Send your C.V. to jobs@fiveblocks.com or Apply
For the 7th Time: Five Blocks Included in Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies List 2023
Five Blocks has once again been included on the annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. It is the 7th time the company has received this honor. In the history of the Inc 5000, only 719 companies (1.38 %) have made this prestigious list of fastest growing private companies seven times.
“I am thrilled that Five Blocks has made this list yet again – I credit our team for their dedication, as well as the many PR partners who have been incredibly helpful to us over the years,” says CEO and Founder Sam Michelson.
He continues, “It’s particularly exciting to be recognized now as we approach an exciting inflection point. As the impact of AI is becoming steadily clear, we are thrilled to be integrating new smart capabilities into our IMPACT dashboard and altering our tools to meet this new technology. We are also working on an AI tracking and analysis program for brands – empowering them to see what AI-powered search from ChatGPT, Bing AI Chat, Google Bard, and Google SGE are saying about them. This year promises to be our most exciting one yet!”
Axios on Wikipedia: Featuring our Advice
“Wikipedia is very central to how companies, brands and public figures are seen online,” Sam Michelson, CEO of digital reputation firm Five Blocks, told Axios. “You must have a presence on Wikipedia, and you must be able to correct or update your presence there — which is easier said than done.”
Read more here.
Five Blocks CEO Leads Masterclass in Baku
Veyseloglu Group of Companies organized and held a masterclass in Baku, Azerbaijan given by our CEO, Sam Michelson. The talk was catered for public relations, reputation management, and digital marketing professionals from across all sectors of the economy.
REPUTATION CRISIS MANAGEMENT FOR BRANDS / EXECUTIVES
Managing a live crisis, or recovering from the lingering effects of one, requires our close cooperation with a client’s communication / PR team/s. Our work ensures that the company or executive’s own sites, profiles, and ideal content appear prominently online, and that unfavorable content is demoted.
Often, a successful crisis management program will set the course not only toward digital reputation recovery, but also toward the brand having more control going forward.
Program and tactics may include:
- Analysis of threats and opportunities
- Ensuring all PR efforts are reflected online
- Identifying ideal third-party media and thought leadership opportunities, especially those capable of replacing unfavorable results
- Optimization of owned properties
- Optimization of bio pages
- Social and business profile optimization
- Promotion of neutral and favorable content and demotion of unfavorable results
- Wikipedia monitoring and response
- Monitoring of search results
Timing:
3-4 weeks: Initial results
4-6 months: Continued progress
As needed: Monitoring
ONLINE ISSUES MANAGEMENT
This program is centered mainly around public affairs-type work. PR and communications teams work hard to ensure that clients’ preferred pages and sites on an issue appear prominently. Five Blocks ensures that stakeholder searches for target topics return websites and articles that reflect the client’s position.
Who might need this program:
- An organization seeking public approval for a new initiative.
- A company / industry dealing with an issue in the public eye (e.g., big energy)
Program includes:
- Ensuring all PR efforts are reflected online
- Wikipedia/Wikidata content optimization
- Promotion of existing favorable content
- Identifying thought leadership opportunities.
Timing: 6-9 months
WIKIPEDIA STRATEGY & MANAGEMENT
- Analysis of a client’s notability in order to ascertain if Wikipedia will accept an article about them
- Analysis of the current Wikipedia page to identify challenges with the current content and sources
- Comparing the current sections in a Wikipedia page with sections that would typically be included in this type of article
- Identifying sources and drafting content for potential inclusion in a Wikipedia page
- Strategizing regarding the best way to work with the editor community
- Engaging with community editors to review and submit proposed content and /or source additions and edits
- Responding to edits and inquiries from the community and engaging in discussions aimed at helping improve client pages
- Working to get problematic notations and page warnings removed
- Helping submit images via the Wikimedia Foundation for inclusion within Wikipedia pages
- Monitoring of target pages in order to respond quickly to vandalism
- Working to help clients get foreign language Wikipedia pages for their brands or executives as appropriate
Timing: 3 months, at least, plus optional monitoring thereafter
ENTITY OPTIMIZATION FOR BRANDS / EXECUTIVES
We position a brand’s (and/or executive’s) online reputation optimally for various types of stakeholders, ensuring that searchers find a variety of relevant, updated, and favorable content when searching your brand keywords. Often, an executive’s own reputation may be linked closely to that of their brand, necessitating a program that encompasses both the individual and the brand.
Who might need this program:
- Brands or Executives whose online presence is confused with a similar company or individual
- Brands or Executives for whom unfavorable, irrelevant, or outdated information appears prominently in search (at the expense of better potential content)
- Brands or Executives with an emerging crisis situation
Program and tactics may include:
- Peer analysis and digital asset audit
- Entity optimization, such as inclusion in Wikidata
- Optimizing notability, such as Brand Wikipedia
- Increasing ownership, including prominence of corporate assets and brand descriptions
- Creating / optimizing bios and social / business profiles
- Multimedia optimization
- Brand building and thought leadership, such as promotion of optimal 3rd party articles, leveraging PR efforts
Timing: Minimum 6 months
Corporate Brand Identity Case Study
Background & Challenge:
A client from the Food & Beverage sector (obviously, we are keeping details vague enough to maintain anonymity) with a brand built on “healthy / clean living” had negative Google results surrounding a specific regulatory issue; some brand confusion; and mixed online reviews.
Strategy & Tactics:
The overall strategy was to focus on promotion of (copious) positive content to demote negative content and enhance / clarify brand.
The game plan was to:
- Analyze data and peers
- Optimize owned content (company’s sites)
- Leverage google features (like Knowledge Panel and Questions)
- Enhance social presence so accounts showed up in search
- Leverage Wikidata to disambiguate brand identity issues
- Leverage Wikipedia by working with the editor community
- Leverage PR efforts / News in cooperation with PR company
Results:
After 3-6 months:
- Actively promoted desired content, improving online reputation for the brand across locations (USA, UK, Canada)
- Drastic improvements to Social Profiles (particular success with Twitter ranking) and Wikidata
- Optimized all company sites
- The right brand information appeared appropriately online
This in turn:
- Demoted negative content across the focus keywords across locations (NY, UK, Canada)
- Achieved similar progress on 70+ secondary terms as a result of our ongoing work
- Helped Google distinguish between the brand name and its products so that customers and stakeholders could find more accurate information that better served their needs
Special Notes:
Knowledge Panel: Brand clarity
- We ensured that the official logo was uploaded to Wiki Commons, legal formalities covered, and proper associations in Wikidata were entered
- As a result, the Google Knowledge Panel – for corporate queries – now features the most updated company logo, sourcing the image from Wikipedia
- The KP went from appearing as a local business with a map to featuring the national brand and its products
Google’s Answer Box (Now: People Also Ask)
This feature utilizes accordion expansion design. When users click on the questions, they expand within the Google search results page to show answers as well as the site from which the answers were sourced.
We ensured content optimization such that Google used the company’s content to answer common questions users have.
Wikipedia
We worked with the editor community to ensure accuracy about the product, corporate history, and nutrition.
Future proofing:
At the conclusion of the six-month program, we:
- Continued monitoring all keywords
- Did vigilant ongoing work to continue demoting negative content, increasing ownership of the narrative, etc.
- Focused on content that went beyond product, especially evergreen content e.g. working the PR company on positive media coverage and thought leadership in the area of health
- Acted as a force multiplier for all digital efforts – website, social, PR, video, content deployment, etc.
For the 6th time: Five Blocks Included in Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies List 2022
Five Blocks has once again been included on the annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, with three-year revenue growth of 143%.
It is the sixth time the company has received this honor.
“We are honored to be included on this list yet again,” says Five Blocks CEO, Sam Michelson. “It’s a challenge to balance premium, bespoke service and relationship building with relentless tech innovation, but we’ve been doing this a long time, and we seem to keep on hitting that high note.” He adds, “Our focus on technology and data analysis has enabled us to scale our operation while providing excellent results for our clients and partners. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our 50+ PR firm partners, who are a huge part of our continued success.”
Recruiting Great Employees Starts Online: Our Advice on Forbes
How can companies attract (and retain) excellent employees at a time when many seem to be opting out of full-time corporate careers?
Here are our thoughts, on Forbes.
Five Blocks Included in Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies List 2021
Five Blocks has been ranked No. 2,243 on the annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, with three-year revenue growth of 190%.
It is the fifth time the company has received this honor, up more than 1,200 spots since last year.
Digital Brand Audit
Designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of your brand’s current digital footprint, identify areas for improvement, and uncover opportunities for enhancement.
Service Description:
Your brand’s digital reputation is the product of the various types of content that exist – as seen through the lenses of search engines like Google, and increasingly, AI Models like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and AI Overviews (Google SGE).
Ensuring a strong online presence is crucial. Our Digital Audit is designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of your brand’s current digital footprint, identify areas for improvement, and uncover opportunities for enhancement. This audit will empower you to strategically optimize your online presence and reputation so that regardless of which search engine or AI platform searchers choose, your brand will be optimally positioned.
Companies who need this solution:
- Want to take full advantage of the AI-powered search landscape.
- Seek to optimize their overall online presence and search engine visibility.
- Aim to enhance and manage their Google Knowledge Panel and other search features – People Also Ask, Search Suggests, etc.
- Look to compare and improve their digital footprint relative to peers, across different geographies and languages.
- Want a comprehensive analysis of their digital content, including images, videos, earned media, and social/business profiles.
- Need insights and recommendations for optimizing their brand’s appearance in AI models e.g., Gemini, Copilot, ChatGPT, AI Overviews (Google SGE).
Unique Value Proposition:
Holistic Approach: We assess the brand’s entire digital presence in Google, AI, Wikipedia and elsewhere – focusing on searcher intent and brand’s preferred presence.
Collaborative Effort: We work closely with your communications and digital teams to ensure alignment and effective implementation.
Data-Driven Insights: Utilizing advanced analysis tools to uncover opportunities and threats.
Ethical Optimization: We leverage optimization opportunities without manipulating search engine algorithms.
Empower the Brand: You will gain a thorough understanding of your brand’s digital presence, enabling you to strategically enhance your online reputation and visibility.
Ongoing integration of new AI model tracking and AI-powered analysis as these technologies roll out.
What does the program include?
- Known/Notable Entity Assessment: Does Google understand your brand?
- AI Model Analysis: Assessing brand’s reputation across AI models (Gemini, Copilot, ChatGPT, Google SGE), opportunities, threats, hallucinations, and sources being returned by the AI.
- Knowledge Panel Assessment: Reviewing presence, claiming, accidental duplication, and potential enhancements
- Current Google Presence Evaluation: Negativity, relevance, missing content, and content type variety
- Peer/Aspirational Peer Analysis: Comparing online presence to identify opportunities, such as platforms and content types. Includes topics addressed by different AI models.
- Geographic and Language Comparison: Differences by key geographies and languages – negativity detection and optimization opportunities.
- Search Features Analysis: Search suggestions, People Also Ask, and Related Searches – optimization opportunities.
- Image and Video Results: Curation and optimization opportunities
- Earned Media Evaluation: Third-party media presence in search & identifying opportunities.
- Social and Business Profile Analysis: Current and Potential
- Wikipedia Analysis: Current Wikipedia page, opportunities for content addition or removal, and addressing issues.
Timing
Our Digital Brand Audit service is a one-month engagement designed to provide actionable insights and recommendations promptly.
Deliverable
Initial findings will be presented after two weeks. Complete recommendations in the form of a written presentation will be presented in a live video conference call at the end of the month.
Why Location Matters to Google (and to Your Brand): Our Advice on Forbes
Google considers several factors when delivering search results. One of these is “likely intent.” This includes where the searcher is located.
How does this impact brands? Read more here.
If you’d like to find out how searchers see you from other locations, try out our free GeoSearch Chrome extension.
Sam Michelson Unpacks Google’s Algorithm on i24 News
Five Blocks CEO, Sam Michelson, explains how Google usually works – weighing searcher intent, a source’s authority, and other considerations.
He talks with Sarah Williamson about when the algorithm breaks its own rules during a crisis like COVID19.
Executive Reputation Case Study
Situation: In business, sometimes the leadership of a company is unfairly targeted by disgruntled former employees.
Several employees of a large corporation were justifiably terminated. The former employees used activist websites and forums to paint the CEO as greedy and unlawful. Though the terminated workers lost their court case against the corporation for unlawful termination, damage was done to the digital reputation of the brand and its CEO. As a result, most of the search results about the CEO were negative.
The CEO turned to Five Blocks for help.
Challenges: Though this CEO was redeemed in the court of law, his online reputation looked dire. Five Blocks was tasked with helping to improve his reputation in the court of public opinion.
Solutions: Five Blocks embarked on a program in tandem with the company’s PR team which included digital reputation management best practices, targeted (local) PR, social media and online video.
The program focused on:
- Highlighting the CEO’s philanthropic activities in the local press and on each charity’s website: Working with the company’s PR team, we secured press coverage in a leading local publication which highlighted the corporation and its CEO’s philanthropic efforts. The same charities were asked to include information about the company’s charitable contribution on their websites.
- Leveraging social media and video: A video of company employees who had benefited from the corporation’s aid in the aftermath of a serious natural disaster was uploaded to the company’s YouTube channel. The same video was also placed with the press coverage about the company and distributed via the company’s social media channels.
- Uploading new, corporate-friendly images to replace unfavorable images: To improve the CEO’s reputation, images of him donating to various charitable organizations were uploaded and used in articles published about the company. These images now appear when querying the company’s CEO in the various search engines.
Results: In just six months after the employee terminations, all prominent search results about the company’s CEO are positive and enhance his reputation. The CEO’s personal reputation is free from unfavorable content in his top search results page, now populated by his significant philanthropic contributions and profile pieces that highlight his business accomplishments.
Sam Michelson Discusses Reputation Management on i24News
Our CEO, Sam Michelson, tells Sarah Williamson of i24NEWS Business Weekly about Five Blocks and online reputation management. He also talks about “shelf-life,” and its impact on digital reputation management strategy. Hint: Don’t take your eye off the long-term, it’s really important for search.
Have a look:
Financial Sector Discoverability Case Study
Typical Discoverability Problem:
Searching for X company or individual does not yield optimal results. In some cases, the brand may be difficult to find if there is another prominent entity with the same name. Alternatively, the search results may contain sparse or irrelevant content, due to the brand keeping a low profile.
Strategy:
Build and strengthen a sustainable online profile informed by the client’s goals.
Tactics typically include:
- Analyze peers or competitors to ascertain typical online reputation for similar entities
- Identify opportunities to launch and promote content
- Focus on ownership of search properties – owned websites, profiles, social media
- Identity existing relevant media content – look for promotion opportunities
Case Study Background:
A New York-based private equity fund we will call ‘Starr Greenwood Group’ is interested in raising a new fund. They are concerned that searchers are not able to easily find accurate information about them and their previous track record. This is further complicated by the fact that there is a fund in Australia with a nearly identical name.
Like many similar entities, the firm has never focused on promoting itself and so has never built out more than a one-page website. They have not built business profile pages or established a corporate presence on any social media platform. Their current online reputation does not accurately reflect the brand.
Strategy & Tactics:
After meeting with the client to understand their business needs, requirements, and sensitivities, Five Blocks conducted an in-depth peer analysis, comparing the firm to others with similar business goals.
The analysis concluded that for this type of fund the key opportunities included: making the existing website more robust; seeking a Wikipedia presence; optimizing the Google Knowledge graph; as well as claiming profiles on sites such as Crunchbase and Glassdoor. Most importantly, an updated Bloomberg profile seemed to be the missing key.
Additionally, we identified an opportunity to work with the firm’s head of communications to get thought-leadership content published. We were able to recommend which publications were most likely to rank well for a company like theirs, and were then able to help optimize the content to appear prominently within the first page search results for the fund.
Results:
After 3-6 months:
The firm’s online reputation was significantly optimized, ensuring that stakeholders (in this case, potential investors) could easily find their website, as well as relevant profiles and articles.
Five Blocks IMPACT™
IMPACT™ is our proprietary tracking and analytics platform. It tracks individuals, brands, and issues (keywords) over time, as compared to peers, and across geographies and languages. This provides real-time monitoring and actionable insights that are critical to understanding and influencing digital reputation for our clients.
IMPACT helps individuals and corporations understand not just how their brand is experienced online but why. For example, by analyzing patterns in the data, our account managers use IMPACT to identify the specific underlying reasons that a particular article seems unmovable.
With this knowledge, we can help devise a strategy that will either weaken the negative content or improve alternate, positive content or platforms to replace it.
Key Features
- Tracks daily results of popular search engines using most-searched keywords and topics over the long term
- Enables clients to see how recent news may be impacting results, and to identify trends.
- Tracks Google and Bing, in addition to support for Baidu and SO360. Will soon feature AI model integration. Tracks over 50,000 brands and executives on a daily basis, providing predictive analytics and competitive benchmarking,
- Analysis covers 500 different locations, across 69 countries, in 23 languages.
- Highlights unfavorable content appearing in responses, making it easier to identify potential issues.
- Peer analysis provides valuable insights as to the way other similar entities are being treated by the search engine. Often this is key to understanding how a brand could potentially be seen.
- Using this data (and with the help of AI) our account managers provide specific insights and recommendations on how to address issues and seize opportunities within Search.
- In a typical client program, we track search results for 10-50 keywords daily, often across multiple locations. In most cases, we also track peers/competitors so that we can gain insight from real-time comparisons.
- An AI analysis component has been added to the methodology for even sharper insights.
For more information on how your company can benefit from IMPACT™, contact us below.
Five Blocks Data Intelligence
We have spent more than ten years tracking and analyzing hundreds of millions of data points and developing unique tools to inform strategies and recommendations for clients. Our focus on data collection and analysis allows us to provide solutions to clients using evidence-based methods.
Our data provides an unparalleled view of a company’s brand and that of their peers and competitors. Five Blocks possesses the largest database of historic reputation data for tens of thousands of major corporations and prominent executives worldwide. This giant cache of search data and analysis informs our strategies, helps us identify opportunities, and allows us to detect changes that will be important for our clients. Five Blocks’ technologists are continually innovating and working on the next generation of data analysis tools to help our clients take control of their digital reputation.
GeoSearch™: Search Google as if you were somewhere else.
A local search emulator solves a real problem that many Google users don’t even know they have. That’s why we created GeoSearch.
Google results will often vary depending on where the searcher is located. Search engines are designed to provide the most relevant information possible to satisfy queries. In many cases relevance is dependent on where the searcher is located and in what language they are searching.
For example, if you are in Baltimore and you search for “aquarium”, Google knows that you may be looking to visit the National Aquarium downtown. That same search done in Los Angeles will yield search results primarily featuring the Santa Monica, Monterey, and Long Beach aquariums.
The same is true for brands and individuals. Google will often provide locally relevant results – job openings in a specific location, content in a local language – depending on where the searcher is located. (Google uses your IP address or sometimes your device’s GPS to record your most probable location.)
For businesses and brands with stakeholders in many different locations, being able to see “how you look” in multiple places at once is crucial.
If you have a reputation challenge in a specific location, you may not be aware of it from searching Google in your current location!
GeoSearch solves that problem by showing you the Google search results page as it appears in locations of your choice,
without the need for a proxy server / VPN: All you do is enter into the extension the keyword you want to search, the city, and the language, and GeoSearch does the rest.
Here’s where to find and install the GeoSearch Extension in the Chrome store.
WikiAlerts™: Wikipedia Tracking
The WikiAlerts™ application ensures that companies and individuals are the first to know when their Wikipedia pages are edited. Wikialerts also allows users to quickly revert vandalism to Wikipedia in near real-time.
Monitoring changes to corporate or executive Wikipedia pages is an essential component of reputation management. Wikipedia consistently takes the top spots in search results for brands and notable individuals, in addition to frequently being the source of information in Knowledge Panels for top executives. Being the first to know when that page changes is a must for anyone managing brand reputation or communications.
WikiAlerts facilitates monitoring by sending real-time, easy-to-read email alerts when edits are made to tracked Wikipedia pages. It allows users to monitor activity, including vandalism and other edits, to tracked pages, and to easily navigate the often-confusing history of any Wikipedia page.
Visit WikiAlerts™ to get started.
Five Blocks included in The Inc. 5000
Five Blocks included in Inc. Magazine Annual List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies – The Inc. 5000
Five Blocks ranks no. 3,427 on the 2020 Inc. 5000 with three-year revenue growth of over 100%
NEW YORK, August 13, 2020 – Inc. magazine revealed yesterday that Five Blocks is No. 3,427 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. It is the fourth time the premium digital reputation management company has received this honor.
Read more here.
Online Crisis: Our Advice, on Forbes
A crisis often begins small; however, online, a minor crisis can grow very quickly.
This is especially true if your brand isn’t sufficiently present online. What’s more, digital results can far outlive the real life event. In this Forbes piece, our CEO, Sam Michelson, shares some of his experience through the lens of digital reputation management.
Read more here.
WikiAlerts empowers companies to fight vandalism on Wikipedia
Monitoring changes to corporate or executive Wikipedia pages is an essential component of reputation management. WikiAlerts™ by Five Blocks facilitates monitoring by sending real-time email alerts when edits are made to tracked Wikipedia pages.
First launched as a beta last year, WikiAlerts allows users to navigate the confusing history on Wikipedia pages and to monitor activity, changes, and traffic. This “virtual assistant” to communications staff now has a new “Revert Vandalism” feature in the alert emails that enables users to immediately revert an edit in the event they’ve identified it as malicious or destructive. It’s our way of helping users keep their digital reputation fair and vandalism-free.
Best Practices for Managing Your Digital Reputation
The RANE community enables risk and security professionals to more efficiently respond to emerging threats and manage complex risk.
Five Blocks President Howard Opinsky talks reputation management on the RANE podcast: How can businesses and individuals anticipate and manage reputation risk in an age of snap judgments based on search?
Listen here.
Learn about Digital Reputation During a Crisis at the 2019 PR News Crisis Management Summit in Miami Beach – Thursday, February 28th
When crisis strikes, a company’s digital reputation becomes stressed and vital to their health. Five Blocks President, Howard Opinsky, will offer his insights at the Summit on the impact that crises have on digital reputations and what brands and individuals can do to prepare to weather the storm. Our team of digital reputation experts will also be on-hand to discuss how you can take control of your internet search results and shape them to best reflect your real profile. Join us at the Summit on February 27-28 in Miami Beach and don’t miss Howard and fellow panelists as they recount some of the best handled B2B crises and best practices in crisis preparedness at two sessions on Thursday, February 28. Learn more about the PR News Crisis Management Summit here.
Five Blocks President Howard Opinsky speaks with PR Week on Bezos’ response to AMI
“We’re not even close to the beginning of the beginning to how information will be wielded as a weapon of war and business,” Opinsky said…
Digital Journal Covers Five Blocks PR Conference Engagements in Chicago & Washington, DC
Five Blocks leaders Sam Michelson and Howard Opinsky will be speaking at two prestigious PR conferences over the next week in Chicago and Washington, DC. They’ll be discussing their latest insights about managing digital reputation and PR crises online.
Read more here: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3985255
Five Blocks awarded Gold dotComm Award
Five Blocks is excited to share the news that we have been awarded a Gold dotComm Award from AMCP in the SEO category.
We’re humbled and privileged to have worked with Dr. Joyce Banda, former president of the country of Malawi, to help her defend herself against defamatory information spread by corrupt political opponents.
A very special thank you to our dedicated team members for their excellent work, and of course to AMCP for selecting us from among thousands of prospective winners.
Gold Award- Digital Marketing & Communication Campaigns
Our Gold Award is a humbling affirmation of the efforts we put in to support prominent individuals and leading companies by allowing them to take control of their digital messaging and protect their reputations. The web environment is dynamic and continuously evolving, and our success in this area has been a direct result of the hard work and creativity of our team.
AMCP and the dotComm Award
We are especially honored to have earned recognition from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, one of the oldest and most respected evaluating organizations in the industry. In determining winners for the dotcom award, AMCP seeks “excellence in web creativity and digital communication.” The dotComm Award is a reflection of our creativity and our ability to pivot in the dynamic online ecosystem.
CommPRO – Five Blocks on Corporate Reputation
CommPRO shares some of Five Blocks’ best advice for planning digital reputation management for corporate entities.
Small and large businesses are realizing that far more people walk through the virtual door of their business (the search results page) than walk through their actual front door!
Getting your arms around the process of managing corporate reputation can be a challenge – here’s how we think you should approach it!
Read more here: https://www.commpro.biz/corporate-online-reputation-management-where-do-you-start/
Five Blocks Launches WikiAlerts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NY, NY, June 26, 2018 – Five Blocks, a leading digital reputation management firm, announced today the beta launch of WikiAlerts – the ‘Google Alerts’ for tracking Wikipedia edits, traffic and trends.
WikiAlerts allows individuals and businesses to get real-time email alerts when the Wikipedia pages they track are edited. As online reputation management becomes increasingly important for companies, Wikipedia has emerged as a valuable resource for searchers and brands alike. WikiAlerts allows users to monitor activity, including vandalism and other edits, to tracked pages. It also enables users to easily navigate the often-confusing history of any Wikipedia page.
As Five Blocks’ CEO, Sam Michelson, explains, “It has never been easier to monitor your Wikipedia page than it is with WikiAlerts. WikiAlerts will transform the way that individuals and organizations follow the conversation about their vital Wikipedia reputation.”
As Julie Waldman, the WikiAlerts product manager said, “We knew WikiAlerts was ready for showtime when our entire content and account management teams began using it for all of their tracking. We see Alerts being adopted by brand managers, CCOs and PR managers as an indispensable tool for tracking Wikipedia.”
About Five Blocks
Five Blocks is a digital consulting and technology firm focused on reputation management. Five Blocks offers proprietary technology solutions and personalized, confidential advisory services to corporations and high-profile individuals who want to build, promote, and defend their reputations. As experts at digital search with over a decade of experience adapting to its ever-evolving parameters, rules, and best practices, Five Blocks includes analysts, technology developers, researchers and advisors. Headquartered in New York City with a development team in Israel, Five Blocks works with clients around the globe.
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If you would like more information about this topic, please call Julie Waldman at (212) 695-0855 or juliew@fiveblocks.com
How to Measure (and Influence) Brand Awareness with Google Search Data
Five Blocks was quoted for a piece on this topic. read more
You probably know how important your Google rankings are in measuring brand awareness — but are you aware of how brand awareness is actually shaped by search?
Because of the way search engines like Google are structured, brand awareness is a viral phenomenon. People’s opinions about your brand are encoded in their searches, and often, Google and other search engines can enforce these opinions.
Agency People News in Brief
New people in new roles at Story Partners, March Communications, Gould+Partners, Five Blocks, Greenough and BML.
NEW YORK — Veteran communications and reputation strategist Howard Opinsky has been named president of Five Blocks, a digital reputation consulting and technology firm. He joins with 15 years of experience as a senior executive at Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Weber Shandwick. Before that, he was a political strategist and communications advisor to candidates and causes including US Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign before that.
Hiring a Reputation Management Company for Your Business
Choosing a reputation management company can be a tough decision.
“Plenty of these companies are perfectly above board, but some reputation management firms employ unethical or even illegal practices that can land their clients in even hotter water if they’re not careful. ”
“It can be difficult to identify shady online reputation management companies,” said Sam Michelson, CEO and founder of digital reputation management firm Five Blocks. “A few telltale signs include the inability to find out who stands behind the company, tactics that include creating a lot of articles, and no clear explanation of the work being done behind the scenes.”
Hill+Knowlton veteran Howard Opinsky joins Five Blocks
The former press secretary for Sen. John McCain was most recently head of the East Coast region for H+K Strategies.
Opinsky said he will work to diversify Five Blocks’ U.S. business beyond its core digital reputation management offering and scale its consulting business, which launched about five years ago.
“Part of my hiring is to build out the consulting side and to build out our presence
in the U.S.,” Opinsky said. “With my background, we can bring Five Blocks to
the corporate community. We will continue to refine the consulting offering to
those clients.”
Why did Google tell you to look up Kenneth Frazier’s Wife?
Kenneth Frazier is in the news for quitting Trump’s Business Council – and that has led to millions of searches on Google. This happens every time an executive is in the news.
At Five Blocks we help brands and executives manage their online reputation.
We pay especially close attention to Google’s “Search Suggest” – the autocompletes – like the one for Ken Frazier’s wife..
Google suggests the phrases that are most likely to resonate with searchers – based on past experience.
In this way, Google Search Suggestions are a window into what people think about you and/or your brand.
Kenneth Frazier, The CEO of Merck, isn’t alone in a recent study we conducted, over 40% of Fortune 100 CEOs’ names are associated with family-related terms in Google Search Suggest.
Meaning when searchers type in the name of the CEO, they see something like ‘family,’ ‘wife,’ or ‘son’ as one of the auto-completes suggested by Google.
This suggests that when searching CEOs many stakeholders want to know more about them and their families.
With our Fortune 500 clients we will often recommend monitoring each of the suggested quires and ensuring that the brand manages content will satisfy the searchers while making sure to respect the individual’s privacy.
It also may be interesting for companies to analyze the timing associated with the appearance of these search suggestions. Do searchers look at a CEO’s family at a time when they feel confident about the CEO? Is it in crisis? It’s even possible that the appearance of these and other suggestions may be associated with changes in sentiment toward the individual by company and are therefore related to rises or falls in share prices.
If your brand or key executives may need assistance managing your digital reputation – please contact us at services @ FiveBlocks.com.
Proud to Sponsor the 2017 Sohn Conference in NYC
What do you get when you gather the world’s top investment professionals in a room for a joint cause? What event could be so acclaimed that it draws industry heavy hitters like Bill Ackman and David Einhorn as well as cultural icons like Michael J. Fox and NASCAR star Jeff Gordon?
The Sohn Investment Conference NYC is the only event for investment professionals that boasts a lineup this robust and supports a cause as worthy as pediatric cancer research and treatment.
The NYC event took place yesterday in the prestigious halls of Lincoln Center. As in years past, Sohn NYC speakers moved markets in real time as they shared their much-anticipated investment ideas. The event was beautifully produced and was successful in raising millions of dollars to support innovative initiatives for curing and treating pediatric cancer.
Since 2014, Five Blocks has been a proud global sponsor of the Sohn Investment Conference in locations such as London, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, and now New York City – for Next Wave Sohn as well as the main Sohn NYC event. We’ve been privileged to work alongside the amazing Sohn Conference Foundation team, providing digital services for the organization and its events worldwide. We look forward to continuing our support of Sohn and can’t wait to team up again next year.
Five Blocks Listed as One of the Fastest Growing Small Businesses in NYC
Small businesses are the backbone of America and New York City.
Based in Manhattan and offering digital brand management for Fortune 500 companies. Five Blocks launched in 2007, they currently have 26 employees with 127% growth last year. Five Blocks helps you take control of your Brand’s Online Reputation. When your stakeholders search you – are they getting the right picture of your brand? Five Blocks works with Fortune 500 companies whose reputations are often worth Billions. They help protect their reputation while making sure that their online presence reflects their corporate communications and branding plan.
Is Google Judging You Based on a Template?
“Google’s job is to show you what you’re looking for. This can only be done by finding patterns and trends. Behind all the search results are templates that every query needs to fit in to.
When you perform a search in Google, you’re effectively seeing whatever information it wants to show you on that day. It’s a ton of information — but it’s not data. If you’re able to collect all that information and trend it, an unbelievable amount can be learned.”
If You Manage a Hedge Fund, Ignore Glassdoor at Your Own Peril
“It’s shocking that third party, user generated content websites (like Glassdoor) populate at least as much, or more, ‘real estate’ in the search results as the company’s own web assets. It’s true that every company will have disgruntled employees from time to time. What’s new is that never before have these critical voices and personal grievances been so public and proximal to the company’s digital brand.”
What’s The Social Footprint of 100 Most Influential Communicators?
The Holmes Report partnered with Five Blocks to analyze the social media footprint of the Influence 100.
By a large margin, LinkedIn is the most popular network for this group. Twitter shows solid usage as well. Facebook presence, on the other hand, is significantly lower. YouTube came in at last place.
Interestingly enough, 15% of the Influence 100 have no social media results of their own ranking on page 1 of Google.
What CMOs Need To Know About SEO
“Early in 2015 Twitter and Google struck a deal, and as a result you’re likely to see more tweets showing up in Google search results. Exactly how this will play out and how it will impact SEO remains to be seen.” Miriam Hirschman explores the possibilities in a post at Search Engine Land. “What isn’t in doubt is that being active on Twitter is more important than ever.”
Catching Up on Hedge Fund Indifference to Search and Social Media
“From our analysis [of the top 100 hedge funds], hedge funds continue to neglect the value of engaging with and controlling their presence on the web and via basic social media channels,” said Goldman. “Firms that assert even the most basic search and social strategy are poised to reap outsize rewards from a younger generation of clients in the coming years.”
Each of These People Has a Flawless Online Presence [INFOGRAPHIC]
Obviously, a big part of what we do at Five Blocks is research. To that end, we recently conducted a study of the wealthiest One-Percenters to see what could be learned from their digital footprints.
Five Blocks’ research spans topics like Wikipedia page presences, digital karma, and social media savvy for the people listed. This was all compiled into one infographic.
What Signals From Twitter Does Google Care About?
Earlier this year, Google and Twitter struck a deal which once again gave Google access to Twitter’s data stream. Columnist Miriam Hirschman explores how this might play out.
Ever since news of the Google-Twitter deal broke in early February 2015, there has essentially been radio silence. We know that the deal gives the search giant access to Twitter’s “firehose” of live tweet data; but, thus far, there has been no information released on what search results will look like once the deal is implemented “in the first half of this year“ (which itself is already half over). Read More
Has Google Gone Too Far with the Bias Toward Its Own Content?
Since the beginning of SEO time, practitioners have been trying to crack the Google algorithm. Every once in a while, the industry gets a glimpse into how the search giant works and we have an opportunity to deconstruct it. We don’t get many of these opportunities, but when we do — assuming we spot them in time — we try to take advantage of them so we can “fix the Internet.” Read More
Impact of Digital Reputation [VIDEO]
In this video, Five Blocks CEO, Sam Michelson, speaks about how Google is the lens through which everyone views the world today. Brands and individuals ignore the way they are perceived online at their own peril.
Other Five Blocks Videos you may like:
Brand Reputation for the FTSE 100 vs. the Fortune 100
Before we can start work aligning a brand’s online reputation to match their corporate objectives, we need to understand something about the playing field.
We need to understand what types of results are typical for brands in the same market. Many of our clients are Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, so we have done extensive research into this market.
Below is a table depicting the frequency with which we find various sites as top ten results in Google’s natural search results. (Data is from Nov 9, 2012).
The number above each bar represents the number of company search results in which each website appears.
As you can see from this chart, the most prevalent result for companies in the Fortune 100 is Wikipedia – appearing in 90% of page one results for Fortune 100 companies.
It’s interesting to note that Facebook and Twitter are each appearing in F100 first page Google results about 25% of the time.
Also interesting is that Yahoo Finance continues to be an important finance site as compared to Google Finance – which does not show up in the top ten.
A takeaway for companies in the space would be to look at the frequently occurring websites and determine if your brand should also have similar results. Knowing that Google tends to “like” showing a specific type of result seems to make it low-hanging fruit – an easy win if it’s something that will help your online reputation.
What about the FTSE 100?
In preparation for a week of meetings in London, we decided to compare the same type of data as seen in Google.co.uk results for the FTSE 100.
In the UK, Wikipedia is even more prevalent. Only 3 FTSE 100 companies have no Wikipedia page appearing in their Google page 1 results! Also noteworthy is the strength of The Guardian as a result shown in the first page Google results for 59% of all FTSE 100 companies! (Note to PR department – The Guardian is more likely to impact online reputation than the BBC, The Telegraph and Reuters combined!). In the UK Markets.ft.com outranks Yahoo Finance in prevalence by a significant margin, with Yahoo Finance still maintaining a significant foothold.
On the social media front, Twitter and Facebook are less than half as likely to be in the Google first page search results for a FTSE 100 company – as compared to a Fortune 100 company.
Notable as well is that neither group has video results coming up with any frequency. Image results show up in 6 of the FTSE 100 search results, but in only 2 of the Fortune 100 first page results.
With this knowledge, we are better prepared to look at FTSE 100 companies – and indeed at company results for other companies in the UK with a better understanding of which sites play significant roles in online reputation. When we approach a client program, we then take the additional step of doing a more exact comparison of the peer group – the companies or individuals that are most similar to the client. This offers further insight as to the way in which Google treats those keywords within the local search market.
The Five Blocks Logo
A little nostalgia…
These were some of the designs from which we had to choose when we designed the Five Blocks logo!
‘Disgusting Dominos’ Tops Dominos Searches
One of the great things about Online Reputation Management is that it includes more than just creating some blogs or generating links. It’s a lot about the perception of searchers. How do they view your company? What frame of mind are they in? What can you do to change impressions? The variety of tactics we utilize in repairing online reputations is constantly evolving. Eighteen months ago we hardly touched Twitter; now it’s a staple. Google’s personalized profiles are also a new development – allowing any user to grab the profile page for their name (which shows up instantly just below the Google top ten with a picture).
In this fast-paced environment, we make sure to see and evaluate what happens a week or more after a crisis.
The Domino’s Test
On April 21, 2009 our company decided to run Google Ads in order to gauge the longer-term effects of negative publicity from Domino’s Pizza’s now infamous “disgusting video.” Our test took place more than a week after the release of the famous employees YouTube video.
Aside from over 25,000 impressions, coming primarily from ads appearing on YouTube, we measured over 3,000 searches for the broad term ‘disgusting dominos.’
Domino’s themselves evidently realized that this would be the ‘best’ keyword to capture the crisis and decided to make their YouTube response title: “Disgusting Dominos People – Domino’s Responds”. This was probably at the urging of their SEO expert. While the best way to rank a YouTube video for a keyword is to start the title of the video with your keyword, I would argue that the negative aspect of having the CEO’s picture under the title “Disgusting Dominos” is a reason to veer away from this tactic. Instead, I would have recommendeded “Dominos CEO responds to Disgusting Dominos People Video.” The actual video file should probably have been called “Disgusting Dominos” as we have seen empirically the effects of the file name itself outweighing the video title. Using the keyword as the title of the video file is very helpful in making sure the video shows up in YouTube for your keyword.
Disgusting Domino’s – the Top Keyword for the Domino’s Crisis in Reputation Management
We noted that throughout our test, Domino’s Pizza themselves did not seem to be running any Google Ads – possibly a missed opportunity to reassure searchers that Domino’s is aware of the issue and is proactively dealing with it.
Note: Domino’s is a trademark of Domino’s Pizza. This site is not related to Domino’s in any way.
Domino’s Pizza Retrospective: Why PR Must Own the “Google Top Ten” in Today’s Era of Online Reputation Management
This piece was written by David Goldman and originally appeared in the Daily Dog on April 27, 2009.
PR firms are responsible for their client or company’s reputations. Similar to the Domino’s fiasco, if a negative video or blog reaches into the top ten of Google search results for a client’s brand name, it’s called a “PR problem.” So why aren’t PR firms called on more often to fix the problem with their client’s online reputation?
One answer is that most people assume that Google search results are like the weather. We have the tools to measure them and possibly predict them, but we can’t change them. Fortunately, the situation isn’t that bad. Experienced online reputation management (ORM) firms working in tandem with PR firms can control a client’s search profile. The best way to get rid of negative results on Google is to take control of your reputation online. Another answer is that online reputation management should belong to the client’s SEO firm. This is a missed opportunity for PR and oftentimes untrue.
Progressive agencies are taking ORM seriously, partnering with firms or making internal hires to accommodate the growing need for bridging their traditional and even online efforts to ORM services. They realize that PR firms are competing with SEO companies to provide these services and understand the strategic as well as the financial sense in getting there first. Agencies should understand that they are often creating the message and image of the brand while SEO firms are technology people.
The Domino’s Case Study—Timely ORM Tips to Consider
Just over a week after the Domino’s “PR Nightmare,” many communications professionals are asking two questions: What can the brand do to salvage its reputation after the fact? And what can we do to prevent our clients from a similar crisis? Here is how our firm would work with Domino’s PR to clean up the mess:
There are at least three things that Domino’s Pizza should be doing now to clean up their online reputation. Although the buzz around the infamous video will continue to wane, the postings and marketing articles about the incident have the potential to linger for months, possibly years, unless the brand takes action. If you’re Domino’s, here’s what you need to do today:
1. Tweet to a stronger presence online. A company that is such an important part of American culture should be actively creating positive buzz online. Domino’s didn’t even have a Twitter account until after the crisis broke.
Pizza Hut recently posted a job offer for a summer intern to work on their Twitter account (see the posting here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10223100-71.html). That’s the type of planning that helps soften a social media crisis when it arises. With 125,000 employees at their disposal, Domino’s could easily distribute an internal memo advocating that employees open Twitter accounts and post positive comments about the work environment and the company. Twitter is one of the fastest ways to have a positive impact on a brand. Domino’s employees have a real interest in making their brand popular and keeping it strong. This will not only help supplant the negative content from the top search results in time, but help prevent a future crisis as well.
2. Develop and execute a video strategy. Currently, most of the videos that appear on YouTube and video-sharing websites for the keyword “dominos” are not about Domino’s Pizza. Had Domino’s occupied the top ten spots on YouTube for the keyword “dominos,” the effects of a rogue negative video would have been greatly mitigated. There was a lost opportunity as the millions of searchers for the keyword “dominos” could have also been exposed to positive messages from the brand in the form of videos.
In addition, the brand’s TV commercials should be systematically re-posted and optimized so they occupy the top spots for video searches of the word “dominos.” Management should also ask employees to create YouTube videos promoting the brand, empowering the employees to feel like they are part of the solution, not only the problem.
3. Go “deep”—leverage mini-sites. Domino’s probably thought that by having a consumer-focused website and a corporate homepage they had their bases covered. In truth, their web presence is shallow.
Creating mini-sites on a few important topics can garner excellent PR while protecting the brand’s online reputation. Some topics Domino’s could consider for mini-sites: a) Passion for Pizza (The Internet is the perfect medium for expressing the passion you have for your product or service.), b) Domino’s and the Environment (focusing on recycling or other green initiatives), and c) Domino’s Scholarships (or Domino’s Community Projects). Each of these mini-sites can occupy a top spot in the Google results if created and optimized by ORM experts.
The Bigger Picture—Why PR Must Own ORM
All of these suggestions are facets of a full-service online reputation management program. When ideas like these are implemented together with a program of reputation management focused on positive articles and links, a negative situation can be transformed into a reputation-building opportunity.
Although Online Reputation Management (ORM) has existed for several years, today the need for this service is more relevant than ever. It isn’t a question of whether companies need and seek this type of service anymore. The real question is: To whom will they turn?
We have met with many PR firms in the U.S. who offer a “blogging strategy,” creating and maintaining an optimized corporate blog for their clients. While this is an excellent first step, online reputation management requires much more than one well-run blog. These firms often subscribe to outside services in order to track their client’s reputation online, but rarely do they offer a solid measurable solution.
So what is the better model?
Answer: Stop offering blogs and start offering “search profile optimization.” A search profile is essentially what someone sees when they search for your client’s brand or product name; it’s the “Holy Grail of Search;” it’s the Google top ten. Today, there are several ORM firms with whom agencies and consultants can partner—offering a white-label solution to their clients to improve their search profiles. The ORM firm provides charts and graphs that track the progress of their work for the PR firm to merchandise back to the client with their ‘look and feel.’
There are methods (especially for clients who are vulnerable to the “Domino’s Effect”) that can greatly reduce the collateral damage of a scandal before it takes place. By “owning” the Google top ten before a crisis breaks out, PR firms can effectively prevent a catastrophe. On a brand’s marketing team, only the PR firm knows when the bad news is coming. Whether it’s layoffs, a poor earnings report or a discrimination lawsuit, this knowledge can be used to minimize damage to the brand by securing the Google top ten in advance of the negative announcement.
Providing ORM services for clients is a way for PR firms and crisis communications professionals to stay vital to their clients and gives clients another reason to stick with their agencies. In this uncertain economy, every PR professional should be finding new ways to increase revenues and retain their clients. Offering ORM services allows PR firms to do both.
