UK human resources firm Croner comissioned YouGov for a survey of 2,000 individual bloggers and a stunning 39% of them admitted to publishing "sensitive or damaging" posts about their respective companies. With today's massive publication forums (such as tagging and social networking sites) even something as seemingly innocuous as a bad day at the office can have a damaging effect.

"An employee can sound off about his bad day at work on a blog without fully considering the impact such a posting may have," said Croner's Gillian Dowling.

Take into account competitor postings and customer blogs and forums and it's easy to see why every company should be keeping an eye on the Web for conversation about your brand. Don't miss Website Magazine's August issue, where you can read about how to monitor your reputation online.