Google Alerts is ‘email updates’ of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. It distills the results from the first 20 or so pages of its search engine results and sends you the alert. The most important aspect of being on the web is your online reputation. Making sure that the information regarding yourself and your business is Good and True and not anything, that is going to hurt you or your business. Now, there are many different aspects of reputation monitoring, and one in particular is Google Alerts.
As a business owner whose specialty is marketing, Google Alerts is a tool that I cannot live without. I get to find out about my clients and their competition, see if anyone is plagiarizing their content, and see who is searching for them. Google Alerts is the ultimate internet spy.
Here are some ways I use the service to save me lots of time and energy marketing in the wrong places.