Dang-that's scary stuff.  I click through whatever Google alerts look halfway intriguing...just haven't gotten hit by the porn yet!

Very interesting.  Things for sharing.  I am going to sign up for these alerts.

Missy - what great information to share! We all need to watch eachother's backs!

Missy-Thanks so much for posting this important information!  One of my google alerts was a person who had some type of foreclosure site with links to articles about foreclosures and they a link to my post about it. Now, they did not ask me, but I do not mind because it is more exposure for me and they did not 'steal' from me, just another link to me. Katerina

If someone really thinks using my name will make me more money as long as it isn't a copy and paste.

Missy - Excellent tip!  Thank you!

Always better to be safe than sorry. 

Damn Missy....  you are starting to be like Brad Anderson...  ;o)  Seriously, that's a good thing. And thanks for the reminder. I am so far behind so many of you with this stuff. I am going to log on today to set up my Google alerts... And yes, great information.... thanks

Good information Missy, thanks for sharing.  I have been signed up for Google Alerts for some time, for a wide variety of things, I have seen some of these that connect to suspicious sites, but must admit, I haven't been hit by the porn yet.  Now that I know that this is happening, I'll keep a closer watch!

Hi Missy,

Thank you for the suggestion!  I have been using Google Alerts for Katie's Law, but will add my name as you have suggested.

Missy,

Thank you and I just did my name....

Missy,
Great use of Google Alerts -- I have been thinking about it and will sign up right away.  Thanks, Joy

I've done this before and then decided to cancel... When you have a common name like mine you will recieve all kinds of information. I then found out that I can change it to my name and my city... Works much better now!

Thanks for the mention of me and my blog... I clicked on something that was linked to me recently and it was something like the "AV Stars the Adult Hut" I don't rememeber if it was in my comment spam on my blog or if that was a Google alert. 

I took the  Snap Shots widget off of my blogs because it slows them down but a great use of Snap Shots  (Missy has Snap Shot on here) is if there is a scary link do a draft post with the link and look at it in snap shots... handle the link very carefully... don't click on it... don't pubish it.. In snap shots it's just  a teeny weeny (in more ways than a normal website) version so the " AV Stars the Adult Hut" type images are less scary.... to me.

here... right on schedule is my Google alert of Missy talking about me talking about Missy:

Google Blogs Alert for: "Columbus Best Blog"

Google Alerts for you Name
By Missy Caulk Ann Arbor Real Estate (RE/MAX...
Maureen McCabe, from here on Activerain, recently wrote a post on her Columbus Best Blog, and mentioned my name about a trip she took to Ann Arbor, Mi. So I would not have found her mention of me any other way. ...
Ann Arbor and Saline Michigan... - http://activerain.com/blogs/missycaulk

Missy, great reminder of google alerts.  I like to use them for keeping tabs on the competition.

Thanks, Missy! I'm going to check it out right now!

 Great information  I will get google alerts.

Missy - Thanks for sharing this. I am not how well it will work for my name though. There are just too many Ryan Martins running around out there.

Missy, thanks very much for the information.  I've heard about Google Alerts but had never thought of using them.  I'm going to sign up shortly, after I read your other post.

Missy,

Invaluable information, I say. Haven't thought about doing Google Alerts, but now I will. The Internet is full of icebergs and as you navigate there, you better have all your eyes out for them.

Missy - It just amazes me that there are people out there that just sit around with new schemes on how to introduce viruses - it is just crazy! Google alerts is great.

I have a few alerts set up.... thanks to your advice in the original post.

Leigh, I never got to the porn stuff the pop up wanted me to click it to remove the malware and I knew it was a hoax.

Christina, just sign up and put your name and the Realtor in your city behind it and you won't get the junk.

Maureen that was quick, that is why I like them so much. Thanks for sharing. So AV Hut must be really capturing our blogs since you had it too.

David, I have thought about that, but I get so many, I'm just trying to moniter my own; however, when my  competition posts they do come in under Ann Arbor Real Estate.

Ryan, read my response to Christina.

Bill, I know isn't it amazing what people would do. I think they should be shut down, all the intent to destroy ones computers.

Hi Missy,

Thanks for the heads up on this one. Like you I love Google alerts too, I've also been surprised to see where in the world my name shows up at times.

Yikes Missy...I use Google alerts all the time and like you I like to click through to see where the reference to my name came from or where it goes.

Missy:  I use Google Alerts but haven't been using the service efficiently.  Thanks for the tips! 

Missy--I am very careful of what I open with my Google alerts as well. I had one pop up that looked like someone had copied my article and it was a similar virus type link. Hosed up my computer and a day later a drive burned out. Amazing that people have time on their hands to do this malicious type of activity isn't it?

I love my google alerts.  I have them set up just like you.  I use to see when my post gets indexed on google.  I see it to see who is talking about me.  And it is usually fast.  I hate when those garbage sites syndicate my blogs wish there was a way to stop them.  

Teri, I am so sorry, this is what I encountered today. Yes, I always want to see where my name is on an alert. I am thankful I caught it today.

Bob, I wish we  could find a way to stop them, but who know what country they are located in.

MISSY:  Thanks for this reminder.  I meant to set it up when you sent me an e-mail a while back, but never got around to it.  I will take care of it now.  BTW - What do you think about Les Miles coming to Michigan?

Adam, he is NOT coming. :( He announced today. Actually there was a lot of division in the Athetic Dept. He and LLoyd Carr don't get along, it had been all over the blogs this week. So I'm rooting for TN tonight. LOL Too bad, he is a good coach and most of the fans wanted him.

Great post about Google Alerts.  I've been using Google Alerts for a short time.  I love it as well. 

Missy, I have many Google Alerts too including my name. This is wonderful information, I am so glad you posted it and will have to be careful of it.

I too ran into some malware by perusing my google alerts.  Ever since, I CAREFULLY look at the name of the post and the website before clicking.  Once you start watching closely, you will find a LOT of it.  Still, I like my google alerts!

Hi Missy,  blog alerts are great, but about half of the posts are garbage - nonsense key word posts, malware etc.

I track several key terms as well and find it useful.

Andy Piper 

Sandi, I will check now all the time.

Andy, I love my Google alerts so I'll just be careful, but NOT giving them up. I find too many things out.

I use Google Alerts for my name as well as my domain names. Lots of them are for the candy, recipes using the candy or Reese Witherspoon. Like Bob said, I get annoyed with the syndicators, but I guess they also provide links which Google likes.

This past week was the first time I received a really questionable site that had a link to my WP blog. I couldn't read it because the text was little boxes indicating a different language. I tried looking at a cache but that didn't work either. I googled the name without the dot-com and there were lots of questionable sites and references.

Has anyone else with a WP blog received an alert for a web site domain of davismith-dot-com?

Missy, I signed up for Google alerts after you brought it up in August (?).  It is by far one of the most informative ways of investigating our own work and if it reaches the consumer.  I've had one Japanese site that always has my name in it, but I haven't fully clicked "through" yet.  I've been afraid to do that.  Your story reiterates why I've been afraid!   Glad you caught it quickly and got the heck out of Dodge!

Missy - Thank you for letting us know.  This alert is really something I should really subscribe to.

Elaine Reese, sounds like spam to me. This is the first alert  I have received that was spam.

Kris, good for you, but so far the good out weighs the bad.

Jennifer, minimum do Dutchess County and your name.

Missy, thanks for taking the time to alert all of us. I have Mcafee and still wonder how all these bugs still happens.

Missy the one I mentioned was not necessarily AV hut... it was an adult site, similar. 

After reading this yesterday I clicked on a link to my WordPress.org site on my blog dashboard.  It was a site about roofing but something on it's page tried to launch an exe file.  I thought I got out of it with out it launching but my virus protection came up and said there was a trojan.  I spent awhile fixing it yesterday.  The roofing site looks like a splog but the subjects are not raunchy, it looks like building.  It has links to three of my recent posts on my WordPress.org blog  This is the kind of thing I really, really hate about the internet. 

Missy...I did it, exactly as you said.  I look forward to my first alert. 

Another thank you from me.

Kathleen

Missy ~ Thanks for posting this and for warning us. I just set up my alert. It's a great way to keep abreast of how our names are coming up on the Net. (Our good names - especially in this business - are pretty much all we have.)

Frank, me too it is so annoying but actually the first spam I have received from a Google alert.

Maureen, don't tell me that. My WP is getting ready to launch. Yikes, this is why I hate the internet sometimes too. I have an that aol aim pop up for weeks, scanned, re-scanned. It was gone all weekend and then my son logged on his aim last night and it is back. I read on aol aim they are saying it is safe but it has really hurt some people's computers. Did I say I hate aol. Yes, I said it. We don't have it anymore and not for years, but the kids still use aim

Kathleen, come back and let me know when you get your first one.

Darleen, you are right and if you put in a Google Alert for you city you will see what your competition is doing.

Missy I don't think it has a thing to do with WP.org, it would be the same if your blog was on WP.com, a blogspot blog... etc.  I believe. Or a link in a Google link sent to your email.   The site was a blogspot.com blog.  I am uncomfortable with that site having links to my content among all the content they are using to lure people in. Thats the WWW today.  There are bad guys out there but the other choice is to not participate at all.

Missy...I received my ALERTS today.  I'm using plural because that's what I received.  Naturally...being who I am, I asked for alerts on way too many things, for instance Lake Anna Land.  I'm getting alerts with the word LAND.  Don't need those.  Will now clean out my alert requests.

Thanks for the tip.  It really is interesting and informative.

Kathleen

Missy - Very helpful.  I had set up an alert from your earlier post and received several.  I will try and be careful for the viruses.  Thanksf or the heads up.

Kathleen, I had to adjust some too, now I only have about 5.

Candy, Just check out the site it is coming from. Most of mine are AR which is fine.

Missy, thanks for the tips and the Google Alerts, Im still in my infantancy here on AR and all the tips I get help me to get up to speed... they are  much appreciated.

I find out the best information with google news alerts.  I have them set up for all sorts of things.  I often find plagiarized info that way accidentally, too.

Gail, you should see my bookmarks!!!!! I started getting rid of the ones that I have implemented and now they are more managable. (sorta)

Chris, I do too. But, I have not have anyone plagiarize me so far.

Thank you for this information - I found your blog through another blog - I never knew this was out there.  Much needed information!

Thank Again!

Missy, thank you for the great tip! I absolutely love it!!  I also love the red in your frame and vflyer, very stunning!

Missy,  I came over to your blog from Jeff B. article.  Thanks for the tip on Google alerts.  Great information.

Jimmy, set it up you will get a lot out of it.

Missy Caulk - great post! I also set google alerts for my name and it is fascinating to see what pops up.