We blogged about reputation economy recently, and the importance of transparency.  This importance is grounded in the reality that you will be viewed, talked about, and have opinions created about you online, with or without you, so better to participate, and work with the participants, in an attempt to set the tone for the reputation you desire.

In North America over the last few weeks, Menu Foods had a situation where some rat poison and/ or other dreadfully wrong ingredients were found in their pet food, and the resultant uproar was loud;  everyone loves their pet. 

In any event here is the internet result from Google.  Usually entertainment type things top the Zeitgeist, but not this week.

When we published the weekly Google Zeitgeist for March 18-24, it was the first time in 6 years that a product recall has placed in the #1 and #2 positions in our top gaining searches. Clearly the pet food recall has sparked a tremendous interest in finding information online through search, more so than any other recall seen to date:

Source: Official Google CPG Blog: Product Recalls: Informing and Educating at a Crucial Time

You hope that reputation management does not turn into crisis management, but better to be prepared by being an active participant in the online arena, so that whatever comes along you hit it in stride.

The online reputation economy is alive, well and growing.  It takes a lot of searches to get to the top of the Zeitgeist, up there with Easter Bunny.  This is clear evidence, that everyone goes online to get information.