In March 2017, a judge just outside of Minneapolis signed a warrant demanding Google release subscriber information of Internet users who search a fraud victim’s name within a five week period, reports Steve Wyer.

In early 2017, an Edina, Minnesota, man found himself the victim of a fraudulent passport and bank scam. According to Steve Wyer, the image on the passport was available online via the Google search engine. The victim, a local businessman, noted a substantial transfer – $28,500 – out of his personal account. Steve Wyer explains the perpetrator faxed a bogus passport to the victim’s credit union requesting the transfer to a third party account. The fax was sent using a program that mimicked the victim’s telephone number.

The warrant, which was signed in February by Senior Judge Gary Lawson, demands Google’s compliance with local law enforcement. The warrant specifically requests personal information of people who searched the victim’s name between December 1, 2016 and January 7, 2017, reports Steve Wyer. Google was the only search engine to receive a warrant, as Yahoo and Bing did not render the image used on the fake passport, says Steve Wyer. The search warrant commands that Google release names, email addresses, birthdates, Social Security numbers, and other personally-identifying information of those searching the specific keyword requested.

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The world’s largest search engine has recently updated the popular Google My Business free listing service, says Steve Wyer, Chief Executive Officer of Third Coast Interactive (3Ci). The newest feature allows businesses to confirm their listing through a verified email address. According to Steve Wyer, the added convenience will likely ensure broader business participation and allow Google users more useful information during their search queries.

Google My Business is one tool Steve Wyer suggest to all of his 3Ci clients. It is a simple concept that has the power to bring more customers to businesses in virtually all industries, says Steve Wyer.

How it works

Google creates an automatically-generated listing based on public records. However, according to Steve Wyer, it is up to business owners to lay claim to the information. A business may update its address, telephone number, website, and operating hours once the listing is verified. Without this step, some fields may be left blank and any inaccurate information will remain, creating headaches for potential customers. Of note, says Steve Wyer, is that absent information may lead to missed business opportunities.

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Physicians of all specialties find themselves wondering what kind of information is posted about their practices online. Here, Steve Wyer offers answers to common questions about medical review sites.

Q: What is the purpose of medical review websites?

Steve Wyer: Medical review sites serve the dual purpose of helping individuals find a doctor that suits their needs and providing feedback from other patients regarding the doctor’s quality of practice and personality. The site also allows reviewers to comment on wait times, convenience, and helpfulness of staff.

Q: Why are these types of sites important, in your opinion?

Steve Wyer: Medical review sites make it easier to ascertain ahead of time what sort of experience one can expect when visiting a new physician’s office. A doctor with high ratings and positive reviews will likely capture more new patients than a similar practitioner with less-than-favorable patient evaluations.

Q: Are medical review sites similar to Yelp or Angie’s List?

Steve Wyer: In a way, yes, but with a few key distinctions. Medical review sites focus exclusively on the medical community. This includes individual doctors, joint practices, ambulatory centers, and hospitals.  These types of sites are becoming increasingly influential as more people have access to the Internet. Also, mobile technology makes it easier than ever to access information any place, any time.

Q: As a physician, do I have any control over the reviews posted about my practice?

Steve Wyer: Not always, although some medical review sites offer an opportunity his/her first result presented. Additionally, some sites may allow the doctor to hide reviews that he/she deems suspicious. A suspicious review is one that you believe may come from someone who’s never visited your practice or who has a personal issue with yourself or a member of your staff.

One bad review is all it takes to send potential customers to the next listing, according to the team at Reputation Advocate.

“You can’t be passive when it comes to online branding,” says Steve Wyer of Reputation Advocate. Many small business owners believe that their storefront and current customer base will be enough to attract new business, but this isn’t always so. Today, it is estimated that 80 percent of consumers turn to the Internet before asking for personal references when looking for a new product or service. This is true of every industry and for businesses of every size.

Businesses that fail to claim their digital real estate – websites, social media pages, reviews site listings, etc. – run a greater risk of being adversely affected by negative reviews online. However, those business owners that maintain an active presence have the tools to present themselves in a manner that more accurately describes their operation.

According to Reputation Advocate, many customer experiences posted on the Internet are not from actual customers at all. Sometimes these reviews are authored by competing businesses, scorned current or former employees, or an acquaintance with a personal vendetta. Regardless of how or why it was posted, a negative review has the ability to push customers away. Likewise, a lack of positive information can be just as damaging.

Internet marketers agree that digital image upkeep is just as important is having a quality brick-and-mortar business. This doesn’t just mean writing a few blog posts a year, says Reputation Advocate ’s Wyer. In order to influence consumer decisions, a business must present accurate and transparent information, continually respond to market changes, and interact positively via social or networking sites. And, all of this information must be readily accessible via both desktop and mobile browsing technology. As users turn to phones and tablets more often for information, keeping a mobile site updated with quick references to address, hours, and reviews, is becoming increasingly important.

Reputation Advocate suggests that businesses claim all relevant listings of themselves. Many fail to realize that sites like Yelp – one of the nation’s leading review sites – create listings based on public records information. Maintaining a proactive approach with these and other consumer driven sites allows a business owner to better achieve his or her end goals of attracting – and retaining – customers.

In this Skype interview with Web Pro News, Steve Wyer answers questions relating to online slander

Steven Wyer learned about reputation management the hard way.

The respected businessman saw his online reputation marred, literally overnight, when two of companies he owned endured litigation. Steven Wyer watched helplessly as misinformation took over search results, leaving him no recourse. Whether the information was true or not was irrelevant, Steven Wyer’s business was irrevocably damaged.

At the time, Steven Wyer had built two impressive businesses out of collecting consumer debt. With clients including General Electric, Chase, and H&R Block, Steven Wyer’s Wyer Creative Communications, Inc. was named the fastest growing company in Middle Tennessee for five years in a row before the litigation changed it all.

“It was shocking that people from the other side of the world asked questions that had nothing to do with the professional relationship I had developed with them,” Steven Wyer reflects. “Both businesses ended up shutting their doors because of information I had no control over.”

The information continued to haunt Steven Wyer in 2006, when he tried to diversify his professional interests. The entire experience showed Steven Wyer now negative information that shows up in search results can impact a person’s business, financial outlook, and even his personal relationships. Steven Wyer is alarmed to see how often such negative information comes from a competing business, an angry former employee, or an unhappy customer in the throes of a bad day.

Because the Internet is unfiltered and unmanaged, Steven Wyer says, there is no way to control such misinformation. People who have worked a lifetime to build a business can have it all wiped away in a matter of hours, with no recourse.

Through his business, ReputationAdvocate.com, Steven Wyer works to help those whose reputations have been marred online. Additionally, Steven Wyer has published a book, Violated Online, that details what can happen when a person’s reputation is attacked. Offering more than fifty tips to prepare for such an attack, Steven Wyer’s book has put him in demand on the speaking circuit, and he now works hard to juggle a thriving business and his work on his next book.

In the book, Steven Wyer details how the very laws that protect our rights to free speech have backfired on us in the internet age. The government will rarely step in when someone has been defamed online, Steven Wyer says, leaving companies and individuals with nowhere to turn. Violated Online arms readers with the tools necessary to survive in the digital age, outlining specific steps everyone can take today to protect against an online attack.

Violated Online is available from Amazon in softcover and e-book format, with downloads available for the Nook, iBook, Kindle, and PDF.