Will Presidential Candidates Manage Their Online Reputations?

I've written in the past about the need for political candidates to make better use of search engine optimization and paid search campaigns if they want to get their message to the masses. While things are improving this time around in terms of organic and paid search, a study released by Marketing Pilgrim shows that most candidates still need to do some online reputation management.

According to Marketing Pilgrim's Andy Beal, most candidates are battling a fair amount of negative listings when you conduct a search for their names on Google or Yahoo. I don't suppose that should come as a surprise to anyone, since politics tends to get a little heated and since politicians aren't exactly known for their universal appeal.

That makes me wonder how many political campaign strategists are up on their search marketing and online reputation management. After all, a strong presence on some social media sites like Flickr and YouTube, combined with entries at Wikipedia and some other social media strategy could go a long way toward helping secure positive, or at least neutral search listings.