Dex One Launches Its Reputation Management Solution

The Yellow Pages industry is moving rapidly down a path toward selling bundles of services designed to help its small-business customers acquire, retain and manage their clientele. ERPM (email marketing, reputation and presence management) is arguably a key element of this new product bundle.

To that end, Dex One today announced that it has joined other directory publishers in rolling out its own reputation management product. Most reputation services work by tracking what’s written about a client on the Web, then doing search engine optimization to promote positive pages, in addition to creating other sites that will push unfavorable references off the first pages of search results. Dex One joins other directory publishers that have launched reputation management products, including AT&T, ZipLocal and SuperMedia, to name a few.

“It’s important that our customers-owners of local businesses-know what is being written about them online,” said Rick Hanna, Dex One executive vice president of sales and marketing, in a press release.

What’s also important is that reputation management vendors differentiate their platforms and find the perfect balance between function and use for busy SMBs as we discussed here. Investors are willing to fund companies they view as promising. This week, Reputation.com raised $41 million led by venture-capital firm August Capital.  

Dex One did not reveal its reputation management partner, but it is believed to be YellowBot.