Search engine reputation management is when an individual or business attempts to repair or protect the online reputation of another individual or business. It is an industry that has taken the Internet by storm over the last couple of years. Online reputations have become more and more important, and as they have done so, search engine reputation management has similarly grown in importance.

Online reputation management does not just remove negative links or comments that people have posted online–this is not as easy as you would think. In most cases, those links or comments cannot be removed. However, one thing that can be done is to promote positive content which will displace the more negative content in the search results. This is a desirable end, since most people get their information from search engine results pages these days.

Search engine reputation management is an industry that has grown by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. Indeed, the industry is not that old, so whatever growth it has experienced over the last four or five years basically represents the extent of the industry’s growth overall.

Online reputation management is one industry, in theory, but in practice–it is a collection of niche industries.  Each of these niche industries serve a unique purpose and audience. For example, some companies serve medical professionals, athletes, small businessmen, international corporations, celebrities, etc. Pricing for services in each of these niche specialties will differ from the others. Of course, pricing will also differ according to the size of the project–preventative work will require less resources and time than fixing an utterly destroyed reputation.

These days there are many firms who are promising guaranteed results within a certain amount of time. This is generally a farce–the company cannot make such promises because it is virtually impossible to know how long the process will take. These companies very rarely are honest about the time line and if the “guarantee” is not as guaranteed as they make it sound, you would be very lucky to get your money back. Generally speaking, the flatrate services tend to be less than high quality.

Services that charge extremely high monthly rates are unlikely to deliver on their big promises. Similarly, unbelievably low prices are probably just that–unbelievable. Lastly, some firms will promise one time fees. These too tend to be less reputable firms with less-than-desirable results. Instead, you should seek reasonable monthly fees that are affordable for you. Expect professionally written content, good communication from the company, and mass market influence. These are the hallmarks of a great online reputation management firm. Do not believe pie-in-the-sky deals, because they will not satisfy your needs.

This is a good, unbiased, article about pricing issues in the online reputation management industry:
http://reputationhawk.com/industry-pricing.html

This is the Wikipedia article on online reputation management:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_reputation_management

This is an article that goes over some of the basics of the online reputation management industry–and even hits on pricing.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/offduty/technology/offduty-protecting-your-online-image-062711/