In some cases, simply increasing your own online brand awareness, possibly combined with some targeted SEOefforts can limit or negate the effect of negative press online.
He wrote a post yesterday talking about how his efforts in SEO, SMO, and Facebook Connect have helped drive traffic to the Forbes.com website recently.
They combine that with search engine optimization (SEO) software like that from SEOMoz, and typically hire an outside firm to manage their SEO and social marketing efforts.
In addition to monitoring SEO tactics where inbound links are placed, businesses must also be clear with SEO providers about the strategies they want them to use, pre-approved tactics, and make sure that policies surrounding SEO and other online marketing efforts are clearly and strictly enforced.