Blogger Kathy Sierra has canceled her appearance at the e-Tech conference in San Diego due to death threats. Graphic violent images and threats started appearing on her blog and another one run by people she said have been critical of her and other prominent bloggers like Robert Scoble. Sierra said, “I do not want to be part of a culture where this is done not by some random person, but by some of the most respected people in the tech blogging world.” Police are investigating.

If you need a job, you need an identity on the Web. ComputerWorld cited a pair of surveys where many recruiters and hiring managers use search engines to find out more about job candidates. Some also use social networking sites to screen people too. Marketing pro Andy Beal suggested people should buy their domain name, know what’s on Google about their names, and own their personal brands as much as possible.

Topix CEO Rich Skrenta said that although “Our entire industry is scared witless by Google’s dominance in search and advertising,” it is possible to compete with them in search as a sub-segment of the Internet market. Skrenta emphasized simplicity and said anyone battling with Google for search should “forget about asking users to do anything besides typing two words into a box.”

Even though the method for doing this used information the service makes easy to find, they considered it misuse of MyBlogLog and banned Jeremy for doing it. In response, Jeremy called MyBlogLog’s staffers “idiots” and accused them of shopping people’s data to other web sites before Yahoo purchased them.

Marketing Pilgrim’s Andy Beal has had issues with MyBlogLog in the past, and is now boycotting them over the ShoeMoney banning.

What’s our point of entry? Can we fund bloggers to spread the gospel of our products and services? Is this even ethical?

“Everybody’s trying to figure out this concept of ‘incentivized’ word-of-mouth marketing and (I think) the issue is about transparency…” With scandals such as the WalMart blogging fiasco, Key believes this the chief problem.

Reputation seems to be preserved through disclosing sponsors, preserving trust for both blogger and business. Yet Beal warns of alternate issues.

“One of the disturbing things that I’ve seen is a complete overreaction by a lot of bloggers to the point where they’re being too aggressive in disclosing… I’ve seen bloggers write positive things about a company… [and feel] like they need to put a disclaimer [on their blog] to say… ‘Hey we weren’t paid to write this. We just like it!’ That’s not the path that we should go down.”

Even if these risks seem too shaky to bear participation, good business still follows trend.

Said Beal, “Companies tend to be late in their reaction. They don’t pay any attention until it actually affects them. The conversations are going on… you can either put your hands over your ears or you can listen and potentially engage… A company should be aware… even if they’re not ready to pull the trigger and jump into the mix.”

Social media brings us ever closer to our customers and seems to empower nearly anyone to make or break our business. Yet, if we can’t recognize its benefit and everyone’s gain, then we’re lost.

Word of mouth advertising is playing an increasingly important role as social media and the blogosphere are becoming primary sources of information for the researching consumer. Andy touches on three major points in protecting a company’s reputation throughout the virtual community: monitoring content, reaching out to bloggers, and leveraging the support of those loyal to the company. Operating effectively within these three realms could be the difference in how a company is perceived by the consumer public.