IBM software checks companies' public image

IBM has launched software to help businesses track what is being said about them in personal weblogs, newsgroups, consumer review websites and news feeds.

The Public Image Monitoring Solution, designed in partnership with Nstein Technologies and Factiva, aims to help businesses analyse how discussion through the internet’s social networks is affecting their brand.

The software can be used to track the success of new product lines or marketing campaigns, to help determine where improvements need to be made and to compare consumer feedback and industry trends with actual sales data and marketing investments.

The Public Image Monitoring Solution uses multi-lingual text analytics from specialist firm Nstein Technologies to help companies identify “hot topics” as well as analyse tone, facts, opinions and other factors that can signal early trends or emerging problems. Users can incorporate content from Dow Jones and Reuters business news offshoot Factiva, including news feeds and published articles.