Customer Reviews

Google Bomb: The Untold Story of the $11.3M Verdict That Changed the Way We Use the Internet

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A novel approach to a book. Sue Scheff tells her story of a victim of someone using blogs and other internet sites to attack her character and her life's work. John Dozier, a famous cyber lawyer picks up from time to time and does the background and explanations. They even use a different font treatment for the two authors. Sue's story is compelling and it is clear as day this could happen to anyone and that it would be horrible. John does a great job with the facts outside of the story. I really enjoyed reading it. This is a light read, more like a two -three hour plane ride than a five hour. If there was one area I wish they would beef up, it would be the Michael Fertik, Reputation Defender part of this, but I guess that world keeps some of their secret sauce tips and tricks to themselves and that is certainly fair. If you Google "Sue Scheff", it is clear that she is in control of her brand at this point. Glad I read the book, plan to encourage others from my organization to take a look and give it a thought.

What you don't know about the internet CAN hurt you! A huge thanks to Sue Scheff and John W.Dozier, Jr for writing the Google Bomb Book. The relentless online defamation of Sue would have sent any individual underground. Instead, her experience led to this book, a guide for protecting your children, yourself, or your business online and off. Written in simple, everyday language, the book reads like a cross between the nightmare you never want to experience and a "how to" in case you do. The preventative tips will equip you to take steps to protect yourself now. Online defamation can happen to anyone. Two lines in this book are especially important to PARENTS - "If you cannot use and understand the technology your kids are using, then don't allow them to use it. Period."

Sue Scheff's tale begins with the not uncommon story of a concerned parent whose tragic experience leads her to become a well-known and respected expert and spokesperson in a niche field. Specifically, she rescues her at-risk child from a dangerous and unhealthy rehab facility, and in the process she quickly finds herself a self-taught expert on these situations with a popular website and organization to support this cause.

This is when her personal success story takes a very dark turn. When she refuses to divulge to a parent some private and protected information about someone else's underage child at a particular rehab facility, she quickly develops the enmity of the spurned parent. This enmity almost immediately becomes an obsession that takes the form of an incessant cyber attack of the most vitriolic nature that questions her integrity in a very tight knit community where reputation is essential. In very short order Scheff becomes personally and professionally isolated.

The rest of the story revolves around how she ultimately finds John Dozier, a legal expert in internet law, who wins a large but apparently uncollected judgment against her assailant. In the process she also retains the assistance of an expert who helps her belatedly ward off the "Google Bomb" attack on her person. The Google Bomb in this case was a successful attempt by Scheff's enemy to raise to the highest rankings - Sue Scheff and her organization in a Google search - to those of the most profane attacks upon her.

Although the tale of Sue Scheff is an intriguing one, there are some items that the reader should be aware. The book is an interweaving of Sue Scheff's cautionary tale about her experience with the decidedly more legalistic and cyber-focused explanations of her internet lawyer. Where Sheff's descriptions tend toward the hyperbolic, as evidenced by her book's subtitle, Dozier's contributions are informative but rather dry in comparison.

Despite these concerns, this is a fascinating case with the added benefit of the wise precautions of a legal internet expert in a field that is becoming unfortunately all too necessary.

Google Bomb: The Untold Story of the $11.3M Verdict That Changed the Way We Use the InternetGoogle Bomb is a straightforward, no-nonsense, no-holds-barred look at how online bullying can wreak devastating results to anyone's personal and professional life. Those of us who have not been victimized online by slanderous, vicious name-calling learn how groups of people roam like packs of wolves on the Internet seeking someone to attack, and when the feeding frenzy ensues, you had better watch out. In a short period of time, your character is trashed, your business you worked so hard to build loses customers, and you are pariah listed in the top ten most popular Google searches. All the bad things said about you has gone viral on the Web.

Ms. Scheff describes how her world was turned upside down by defamation, cyberstalking, privacy invasion and viral internet attacks following an innocent connection with a person online, and she and attorney John Dozier lay out a succinct checklist to deflect Internet attacks and protect one's reputation. I commend Ms. Scheff for her courage to educate the public about what a Google bomb actually means and how it can affect all of us. This book is a must read for everyone who surfs the Internet for fun, uses the Worldwide Web to conduct business, or wants to understand the difficulties posed by exercising free speech on the Internet without any guidelines.

[...] - I own a company that gets a tremendous amount of its business from the net. I found it truly amazing and quite disturbing to find out just how destructive the internet can be for a business and a persons life. I truly believe that this is a must read for any and everyone!

* Who should purchase Google Bomb?

Every person with a name and reputation which they wish to protect should purchase this book. You don't have to be a technological titan to understand the examples provided. The take-away knowledge provides you a fighting chance to protect, and when necessary, reclaim your reputation. My adage re family online safety is: "Invest in your family's online safety, commensurate with the value of your family." This book's modest price is asymmetrical to the increased value you'll experience in your reputation safety quotient.

* Why you should purchase Google Bomb

Google Bomb is road-map clear, no missed exits, nor wrong turns, no questionable advice. It is an arrow in your quiver, so that you may defend yourself and/or prepare yourself should you have the unfortunate experience of receiving the vile ill-will of another via the social media environment in which we collectively exist - you do have a fighting chance.

* How Google Bomb touched me

Only infrequently does a book cause a reader to experience a personal visceral reaction; for me, it's happened only once before. Google Bomb, the telling of Sue Scheff's personal story in the recovery of her good name and reputation, is such a book, it moved me, and it will move you. Allow me to explain.

Those who know me well will have immediate understanding why a book which charts the Herculean efforts required to reclaim your good name, reputation and professional stature following the actions of a few to destroy, such resonated with me. You see, once you've traversed that road of false accusations, you never wish to replicate the journey again, and you'd wish it upon no one.

When it's happening it's surreal and unbelievable. Once the realization you aren't dreaming hits home, you are either overwhelmed and capitulate, in effect self-declared road-kill or you take inventory of all your resources and deduce your good name and honorable reputation are the only remnants of your life worth protecting. You then take these remnants and use them to form the foundation of your reclamation efforts. Even if your first steps may feel a bit like Don Quixote tilting at windmills, persevere, what journey ever started off with every experience preordained?

I appreciated the description of the pivotal moment when Sue described the last straw, the straw which caused her to stand up and say, "Enough already." I had complete visualization of her reaction when the miscreants who had been attacking her persona and her company, began attacking her children. I had no doubt her "mother bear" instinct to fight and protect her offspring was fully awake and it was game-on!

Unfortunately, bad things do happen to good people. You strive, perhaps seemingly altruistically to bring goodness to this world and awaken one day to find yourself surrounded by vile and unconscionable accusations. Your mindset describes the event as "stupefying," you are now seemingly being punished for your good works. Google Bomb describes such an experience, Sue's experience.

* What to do and how to do it

John Dozier's insightful discussion of events, throughout the book, is clear and concise - the reader can easily understand the, "why" behind each of Sue's actions. I found myself rereading and noting the legal and technical strategy employed as Sue's reputation was reclaimed. I was nodding my head with great satisfaction as those wishing ill will upon Sue and her family were identified, held accountable and brought before the courts where they were ultimately held responsible and duly punished.

* Applicability for businesses and intellectual property

John's extrapolation of his methodologies to the realm of a small, medium, or large company's reputation and intellectual property protection is spot-on. My own book "Secrets Stolen, Fortunes Lost" was stolen within 60 days of publication from my publisher, and then shared via peer-to-peer networks (see my article Secrets Stolen, No Just the Intellectual Property which describes the experience). Plainly spoken, if you have intellectual property, "Have a strategy!" to protect it.

* Reputation Defense

Highlighting the good works of Michael Fertik's Reputation Defender, was personally appreciated, as it reoriented my compass with respect to his firm - I'll be re-engaging the company to learn more about their capabilities. My first encounter with Reputation Defender can only be described as "going sideways" and I have no doubt it was an anomalous event - I look forward to learning more from Michael or his staff, as Sue's experiences described in Google Bomb, clearly show them to be effective.

* Google Bomb's call to action

I agree with and wish to associate myself with the call-to-action contained in the book. We are all responsible for keeping our shared online community safe. When self-policing and self-control fail, then we do require meaningful laws availed to law enforcement and prosecutors. Laws having backbone and are easily understood and are flexible enough to anticipate evolution of technology are required. In essence our current situation is analogous to having a population center of millions without a "time-out" corner.

In my opinion, we need alignment of state and federal statutes which will hold accountable those engaging in cyber stalking, invasion of our privacy, personal impersonation and character defamation. In the United States, well meaning legislators are acting individually and from the optic of their constituent states - we need federal action. Furthermore, restraining orders need to have appropriate meat attached to their bones, with a need to integrate 21st century technologies - in the physical world 100 feet is measurable, in the virtual world, geographic borders are obscured - lets bring technological audit trails, access controlled environments and filtering into play.

It is no small task to fill the international voids which provide haven for both domestic and international criminal or malevolent individuals to operate with impunity, but instead of describing the difficulty, let's get started. I'm all in! If we don't all step up and contribute, then Sue's story will be the first of many more to come.

* My personal thank you

In closing, I'd like Sue to know I've great personal empathy for the angst which she and her family experienced and I commend her for her display of personal courage and fortitude, from her decision to stand up and not take it any more, all the way through the sharing of her story so that others may learn from her experiences. For John, your work speaks for itself, nicely done sir.

Thank you Sue also for your good works both individually and through your Parents Universal Resource Experts (Pure); it is clear you are one of the good people, and many families no doubt are grateful beyond their ability to articulate for the assistance you provided. Thank you John for your clear explanations of the legal strategy and steps one can take to protect oneself, you've empowered many.

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Christopher Burgess

Secrets Stolen, Fortunes Lost: Preventing Intellectual Property Theft and Economic Espionage in the 21st Century

Wow! A real life story about how the Internet can be misused to destroy the reputation of innocent folk. This book is not only an eye opener but also a wake up call and warning.

The theme and real life context of the book is certainly compelling and the moral and legal issues raised are intriguing. The moral of the story is if you chance to slander folk on the internet you better hold onto your hat. When Sue Scheff's career and personal life was unjustly attacked via the Internet with vicious remarks and lies she did the only thing she could do in her defense; file a law suit against the perpetrator meant to stop the barrage of on going harassment. The slanderous insults made on the Internet about her ended up in an 11.3 million dollar judgment against the perpertraitor. The book includes interesting

and thought provoking excerpts written by an attorney.

Because of a chapter in this book I signed up for a Google service that will notify me, via email, of any reference to a specific phrase of my choosing in any Blogs, comments or web sites on the Internet.

The book is about a woman, co-author Sue Scheff, who was attacked by a viciously mean crew of folks to such an extent that she finally sued for damages done to her reputation and livelihood. She won too, being awarded recompense in the millions of dollars. Her lawyer, co-author John Dozier, gives insight to search engines and how to avoid being in the same trap as Sue Scheff. "Make the search phrase your name or the name of your company", as I paraphrase Dozier's advice. Well I thought it was a great idea and didn't even know that Google offered such a service.

"Pat Fish" I told Google to find and notify me anytime this phrase shows up on an Internet web page. It is, ahem, my real name. I figured what with me being such an important Blogger and everything that I'd be inundated with email of web site URL's containing my name. First day I get an email from Google with notification that my search phrase had been found. I clicked in. It was in a camping page, within which were instructions on how to cook that fabulous fresh fish caught in the sparkling lake just prior to pulling out the fry pan.

"Pat fish dry then roll in bread crumbs..." was the text.

I am humbled.

So while I am a Blogger with some experience on the Internet it's evident I have not been a victim of what the authors call a "google bomb", or an all out assault to cause a person or company huge damages by filling web pages with URL'S and commentary deriding the object of their anger. Folks who make google bombs know all the secrets.

I am familiar with the power of almighty Google on the success of a Blog or web site, I bow to the east and the gods of Google at this discussion. I once got put in what is called a Google trash bucket and for three months I got no hits on my Blog. I don't know why I got put in the trash bucket as Google decides what Google decides and they are the amighty, all powerful, all knowing. Eventually I got removed from the trash bin but that was one awful few months.

And so too can Google destroy reputations and businesses, albeit along with some help from wise humans who know how to play the Google rating game.

Sue Scheff ran a business that referred troubled teenagers to various schools and institutions that deal with these adolescents in many diverse ways. Her business was known as PURE and it was via a client who sought advice from Scheff that Scheff's nightmare began.

The trouble maker was a woman named Clark who did, in the end, turn out to have a monetary interest in obtaining the name of a troubled teenager who Scheff once gave a referral. Scheff would not reveal the name of the adolescent to Clark, as one might expect as such things are confidential.

The enraged Clark launched into a campaign to destroy Sue Scheff and her company and I don't think I've ever read of such viciousness.

Dozier provides legal insight to the trials and tribulations of taking the case to court, the problem with having a company such as Google having such a disproportionate inpact on the very definition of "success" in this country, how "freedom of speech" is no such thing but a phrase to cover destructive attacks while avoiding responsibility for reputations destroyed.

I took exception to Dozier's somewhat snide reference to "citizen journalists", ie Bloggers, as being mostly bad for the Internet influence. There's good and bad in every bunch of apples and while I certainly do understand Dozier's disdain for the ungoverned, unregulated frontier known as the Internet, there's no need to sniff at what is increasingly a replacement for a corrupt mainstream media that no longer does its job. Consider me as having a dog in this race and take this sniff for what it's worth.

I also had a problem ascertaining when Dozier was writing and when Scheff was writing. At the book's beginning the reader is told that different typefaces would indicate who is the narrator. Well the typefaces were different but you almost need a magnifying glass to see the differences readily. Or perhaps I'm just getting too old and crotchety.

These issues being said, I bow to Dozier's assertion that once grievances are known, careful and thoughtful law making is needed to address the matter. There's no pride in allowing nasty, misguided people to attack the innocent at will under the guise of freedom of speech.

Dozier also provides valuable insights as to how search engines work, how to use paid ads to fight back against Internet attacks, how to guard and protect your name, the ins and outs of the all-important "search engine optimization".

In short this well-written book is a must read for anybody doing business on the Internet, which is, these days, almost everyone.

When I first heard about Google Bombs I knew that as a business owner and a person in a profession that helps others, this was a must read! I was not disappointed. The book is written in a very easy to follow style. I enjoyed how Sue Scheff would write a portion of each chapter regarding her tragic experiences of being cyber "attacked" while John Dozier provided excellent information about how to employ sound practices regarding protecting your company, your name, and product copyrights, etc. on the internet and through other media outlets.

Bravo to both authors! I thank you for this timely book with such an intense biographical story and important lessons. I hope that many people will find it as valuable as I did!

If not, you better read this book! This book will teach you how to protect yourself by monitoring Google and what might happen if you don't. Sue Scheff has become our guardian angel by writing this book and Bless her for doing so!