The Google Public Policy blog recently announced a new feature within Google Accounts, named ‘Me on the Web’. This tool is designed to help people manage their online reputation, by indicating which profiles are associated with them. The new function will be used by both private individuals and companies, who want more control over what is deemed to be relevant and associated online content.
What can you do with the Google ‘Me on the Web’ Tool?
Here is a breakdown of the features of the new section, controlled from the Dashboard page in Google Accounts:
Links from your profile: 11
An overview on the links that you have added on your Google Profile. When you submit a link via the sidebar on the Profile page, you have the choice to select “This page is specifically about me”, indicating to Google that you want to be associated with content from that website.
This is how our links appeared, just 4 were shown with the option to click through and view all:
http://www.im3.co.uk
YouTube - seosheffield
Google Reader
Twitter SEO Sheffield
More links from your profile
Set up search alerts for your data
Takes you to the Google Alerts tool, so you can receive any updates for online content being published which contains certain text.
How to manage your online identity
Redirects you to: How to manage your online reputation, a page full of resources, tips and related tools for managing an online identity.
How to remove unwanted content
Links to information regarding the process to remove unwanted, un-warranted or un-solicited website content. The URL removal request links are in this section.
One initial thought over effectiveness of this new tool is how to validate the associated content. At no point is there a verification process to confirm that the Twitter account, blog, business website or Facebook account is actually yours. It seems that this is a test bed for more stringent online identity and reputation management system. Expect verification apps to be in place in the coming months.
