Jennifer Laycock explains why not all online reputation management services are created equal. She looks at one firm that claims to “DESTROY” negative content, for just $29.95. A closer look at the fine print reveals a nightmare waiting to happen.

You authorize us to take such action on your behalf, and to identify ourselves as acting on your behalf…The Customer also acknowledges and accepts the risk that Reputationxxxxxx, Inc., may not succeed in effecting the removal and/or alteration of any Internet content about the Customer…You recognize that such contact may have unpredictable side-effects, including but not limited to negative responses from others.

Cool, so for thirty bucks, you’ll create a bigger mess than I’m already in? Where do I join?

TechCrunch has an interesting piece on Monitor110, an online monitoring tool aimed at the hedge-fund market.

The service tracks information from now 50 million sources, analyzes it for topical relevance and delivers near real time alerts to customers. It focuses on blog, deep web and static web changes. Topical expertise evaluation is an important part of the secret sauce.

This is a fantastic use for online monitoring. I’ve been telling businesses that there is all kinds of information out there, just begging to be found. Using RSS to track what is being said about a company and mining for financial information is a great example of how companies can use the web to ensure they never miss a thing!