December 12, 2008 by Matt Thomas
We’ve been talking a lot about SearchWiki this week. However, one important side of it that we haven’t discussed yet is the comments function, which presents some awkward challenges for site owners. Now that any user can comment on any site on Google you’re going to have to regularly check you aren’t being flamed by competitors, angry customers or general malcontents. There’s also the ever present spectre of comment spam to worry about.
Luckily, these comments aren’t visible to the general public, only those logged into SearchWiki who choose to click the ‘see all notes…’ tab. However, as SearchWiki becomes more ubiquitous and people get used to looking at comments on it this may become a problem. Also, it’s simply not that nice to see, unfair, abusive or plainly untrue comments about your site from some random ‘Internet tough guy’.
Of course people can leave good comments, though anyone who knows a bit about the internet will know that comments boards tend to bring out the worst in people, just have a look at the YouTube board.
If you find yourself slandered on the comments area of your own site listing, you can flag the comment as inappropriate though by then the damage may have already been done.
I’ve got to say i think this is a bit unfair of Google. When you put a comments board on your own site, that’s your choice and you accept the consequences. What SearchWiki is doing is foisting the burden of hearing negative comments about their company, organisation etc., onto site owners.
There are likely to be many who arent to happy about that. I think Google may experience a bit of a backlash from this one.
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