I’m sure you’ve tried it. We’ve all done it at some point in our lives. Yes, I’ll admit that I’ve Googled myself. And I’m willing to bet you have, too. But you know what? That’s okay. Go ahead and Google yourself. Just don’t blame Google when you find something you don’t like.

In a recent blog post, Google gave a few tips for reputation management. For those who are unaware, reputation management is the art of pushing positive content about you or your brand in order to push down the negative content. Google has some good ideas on how to get that positive content out there, but do make it clear that it’s not Google’s job to clean up the bad content that others are spewing about you: “Google doesn’t own the Internet; our search results simply reflect what’s already out there on the Web.” In short — if you don’t like what you see, go directly to the source, not Google.

I won’t lie — this recent blog post set in a little paranoia, and I decided to check up on my own online reputation via a Googling experiment. I’m lucky to have a bit more anonymity than most because of EXTREMELY generic first and last names (thanks, Mom and Dad), so it wasn’t easy to dig up any dirt on myself at first. I tried <first name> <last name>; <first name> <middle name> <last name>; and finally <first name> <last name>, <city> <state> (my current residence). The latter entry displayed links to my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.* Both appeared harmless. I can’t say I have much to hide as it is, but I can imagine I would be frustrated if I found someone bad mouthing me or slandering my name or brand in some way.

In conclusion, Google yourself and your brand often. Don’t be caught unaware by unreliable slanderers. If you do discover something, go directly to the source.

Read the rest of the article about reputation management.

*Only the first page of search results were analyzed on Google.