Despite enormous investments in corporate communications, the majority of companies in the Nasdaq 100 suffer reputational damage from negative news or content that ‘sticks’ to their search profiles like gum, long after the news cycle has moved on. That’s the key conclusion of a new analysis we publish today.

Key findings:

• Sixty-four companies from the Nasdaq 100 are afflicted by negative content sticking to their search results
• Much of that content is old – of the 64 companies affected, 48 have negative content sticking to them that is more than a month old; while 14 of those have negative content that is more than a year old sticking to page one of their search results
• Most of this negative content consists of critical media stories, most often around unethical company/employee behavior or poor financial performance
• Companies least affected by the syndrome are Celgene, Mondelez International, Netflix, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Micron all showing far fewer negative media mentions than other Nasdaq 100 companies

The analysis was undertaken using Grayling’s proprietary GCore technology developed to help our clients manage their online reputations, by looking at reputation through the lens of search. A summary of the analysis, ‘Search… and Rescue: Addressing Damaging Search Results for the Nasdaq100’, is available to download below.

Grayling’s west coast lead, Jon Meakin says: “Now, more than ever, reputations are shaped by what people see online – and specifically what they see on the first page of Google search results. But while many companies invest heavily in search engine optimization, our analysis indicates that the importance of branded search results is being overlooked.”

As well as the analysis, ‘Search… and Rescue’ includes some practical advice not just for the Nasdaq 100, but for any company serious about the curation of its online presence.