ReputationDefender

ReputationDefender and early services

Under the brand ReputationDefender and up until 2018, the company offered online reputation management services, which according to author Lori Andrews charges clients to remove items about them from the Internet with "no guarantee of success." Early cases where the company sought to remove photographs from the Internet, for example, removed about two thirds of the copies from the web, but could not remove the remainder. Websites like Spokeo were compensated for individuals they direct towards ReputationDefender who become ReputationDefender clients. Fatrik (the founder of ReputationDefender) had stated that this arrangement put Spokeo in a position that was capable of profiting from adding negative material about those with profiles on their site. The company often contacted the operators of websites hosting negative content about the client, asking them to remove the information. According to TheWall Street Journal, the letters "don't make threats... but instead try to appeal to recipients' sense of fairness." ReputationDefender charged for increases in the severity of the language used. It generally could remove newspapers or court records.