Google sidewiki
Like it or not, your customers are talking. And thanks to the introduction of tools such as Google’s sidewiki, it’s easier than ever for them to tell others exactly what they think of you and your brand.
In case you’re not familiar, Google sidewiki allows anyone to leave comments about pages as they surf the Web. The content within a sidewiki is user-generated so this isn’t something that companies are asking for or doing on their own – it’s just happening. But, with that being said, a sidewiki can be enabled by anyone (company or consumer) by clicking on the little thought bubble icon in the top left-hand corner of the site you are visiting.
Once you click on the icon, the sidewiki will appear and you can view and post comments pertaining to that specific company and site.
Google sidewiki was created to allow users to share helpful insights, tips and information. The downside for companies is that this information isn’t always positive. For example, when you look at Apple’s sidewiki, three of the first four posts are negative.
And the bad news is that once a negative comment has been posted, there’s no way to block the comment. The good news, Google sidewiki doesn’t display all comments and ranks comments based on quality and relevance. And, it’s not just consumers who are posting. We’re seeing more and more companies post in response to a negative comment or proactively engage by posting helpful information.
So, as technology continues to evolve and more of these user-generated tools pop up, companies are going to continue to lose control of their brands. Which is why brands need to be monitoring these conversations so they can react to them or at the very least be aware of what is being said.