Organization
Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Online reputation, internet investigation, and search engine consulting firm founded by Bill Hartzer, offering online defamation help for individuals and businesses through onlinedefamationexpert.com, plus expert witness services for litigation and affiliated domain security services through DNAccess.
sameAs: www.hartzer.com/ · dnaccess.com/
“Online defamation expert Bill Hartzer helps individuals and businesses recognize, document, remove, and prevent false and damaging content online, with expert witness support for litigation.”
Bill Hartzer | Online Defamation Expert - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Person
Bill Hartzer
Online defamation expert helping individuals and businesses recognize, document, remove, and prevent online defamation, founder of Hartzer Consulting and DNAccess, with more than 25 years of experience in search engines, online reputation, and internet investigations, and expert witness experience on the technical side of online defamation litigation.
sameAs: www.hartzer.com/about/ · www.linkedin.com/in/bhartzer · www.billhartzer.com/
“I'm Bill Hartzer, founder of Hartzer Consulting and DNAccess. For more than 25 years I've worked at the intersection of search engines, online reputation, domain names, and internet infrastructure, increasingly as someone people call specifically because something false and damaging about them has shown up online.”
About Bill Hartzer | Online Defamation Expert - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
“When a matter is heading toward litigation, whether that's identifying an anonymous poster or supporting a damages claim, I also work directly with retaining attorneys as an expert witness, bringing the same technical background to depositions, reports, and testimony.”
About Bill Hartzer | Online Defamation Expert - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Service
Online Defamation Services
Five areas of support for individuals and businesses dealing with online defamation: understanding the law, recognizing common situations, documenting evidence, removing or suppressing content, and preventing future incidents — plus expert witness services for litigation.
“Services for individuals and businesses dealing with online defamation: recognizing it, documenting evidence, removal and suppression, prevention, and expert witness support for litigation.”
Online Defamation Services | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Service
Online Defamation Law
Plain-English guidance on what legally counts as online defamation, common legal defenses, whether you can sue, and when to involve an attorney or expert witness.
“Online defamation is a false statement of fact, published where a third party can see it, that damages a person's or business's reputation — a narrower category than anything upsetting someone said online.”
Online Defamation Law | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Service
Recognizing Online Defamation
Guidance on common online defamation situations for individuals and businesses: fake reviews, social media attacks, impersonation, personal disputes, and professional or business reputation attacks.
“Online defamation usually falls into a handful of recurring patterns — fake reviews, social media pile-ons, impersonation, personal disputes gone public, and attacks on professional or business reputation.”
Recognizing Online Defamation | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Service
Documenting the Evidence
How to properly document online defamation before it's edited, deleted, or made inaccessible: screenshots, timelines, metadata, and when to bring in a professional investigator.
“Content on social media and review platforms can disappear fast, sometimes within minutes of the poster realizing there might be consequences, which is why documentation can't wait.”
Documenting Online Defamation | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Service
Removing or Suppressing Online Defamation
Realistic options for removing online defamation or ensuring it's no longer prominent: platform removal requests, search result suppression, cease-and-desist letters, and realistic timelines.
“Removing online defamation isn't usually a single action — it's a combination of approaches applied in the right order, matched to the specific platform and content involved.”
Remove Online Defamation | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Service
Preventing Future Online Defamation
Ongoing monitoring and practical steps — a positive online presence, privacy and security basics — to protect a name or business going forward.
“A handful of ongoing habits — knowing quickly when something new appears, maintaining a baseline of accurate positive content, and reducing available personal information — make a real difference in whether the same thing happens again.”
Preventing Online Defamation | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Service
Online Defamation Expert Witness Services
Technical expert witness support for attorneys handling online defamation litigation: evidence authentication, platform behavior analysis, anonymous poster identification support, and damages analysis — a secondary service alongside this site's main consumer- and business-facing reputation help.
“Attorneys retain Bill Hartzer as an expert witness on the technical side of online defamation matters: evidence authentication, platform behavior analysis, anonymous poster identification support, and damages analysis.”
Online Defamation Expert Witness Services | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Methodology
Recognize, Document, Remove, Prevent
The four-stage process this site is built around for handling online defamation: recognizing whether content is legally significant, documenting it properly, removing or suppressing it, and preventing future incidents.
“There's no shortcut that skips straight to 'make it go away.' What actually works is working through four stages in order: recognize, document, remove or suppress, and prevent.”
How It Works | Online Defamation Expert Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Taxonomy
Common Online Defamation Situations
A taxonomy of the recurring online defamation situations individuals and businesses face: fake reviews, social media attacks, impersonation, personal disputes, and professional or business reputation attacks.
“A business gets hit with a wave of one-star reviews that don't correspond to real transactions, often from a competitor, a disgruntled former employee, or a coordinated campaign timed around a dispute.”
Common Online Defamation Situations | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Concept
Defamation (Libel, Online Defamation)
A false statement of fact, communicated to a third party, that damages a person's or business's reputation. Online defamation is almost always treated as libel.
sameAs: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation
“A false statement of fact, communicated to a third party, that damages a person's or business's reputation. Online defamation is almost always analyzed as libel.”
Online Defamation Glossary | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Concept
Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation)
Laws adopted in many U.S. states that let a defendant seek early dismissal of a defamation claim targeting speech on a matter of public concern, sometimes along with attorney's fees.
sameAs: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation
“Many states have anti-SLAPP laws that let a defendant seek early dismissal, and sometimes attorney's fees, when a claim targets speech on a matter of public concern.”
Legal Defenses to Online Defamation Claims | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Concept
Cease and Desist Letter
A formal written demand that someone stop a specific activity, such as publishing defamatory content — often a step before litigation, without independent legal force on its own.
“A cease-and-desist letter is a formal written demand that someone stop a specific activity. It carries no independent legal force on its own; it's a step, often before litigation, not a substitute for it.”
Cease-and-Desist Letters for Online Defamation | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Concept
Search Result Suppression
Building up accurate, positive, or neutral content so that damaging content is no longer prominent when someone searches a name or business, used when removal isn't realistic.
“Search suppression is built on the same principles as any legitimate SEO campaign: strong, authoritative content about you or your business, published consistently.”
Search Result Suppression | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Concept
Review Bombing
A coordinated effort to flood a business with negative reviews in a short period, often unrelated to genuine customer experience.
sameAs: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Review_bomb
“A sudden wave of one-star reviews that don't correspond to real transactions, often from a competitor, a disgruntled former employee, or a coordinated campaign timed around a dispute.”
False Reviews & Rating Abuse | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Concept
Google Business Profile (Google My Business)
Google's free business listing product, formerly Google My Business, where customer reviews for local businesses appear directly in Google Search and Google Maps.
sameAs: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_My_Business
“Google Business Profile has a specific review flagging process for reviews that violate its policies against fake engagement, off-topic content, or conflicts of interest.”
Platform Removal Requests | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Concept
Wayback Machine (Archive.org) (Archive.org, Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
A nonprofit digital archive that periodically crawls and saves snapshots of web pages. Coverage is inconsistent and frequently does not include social media posts or individual reviews.
sameAs: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine
“Archive.org's Wayback Machine only has a snapshot of a specific URL if that page happened to be crawled, and its crawlers heavily favor major websites over individual posts or reviews.”
Documenting Online Defamation | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC
Concept
Expert Witness
A person with specialized knowledge who provides opinion testimony to help a court or jury understand evidence beyond common knowledge — in this context, the technical side of online content, platforms, and damages.
sameAs: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expert_witness
“An expert witness doesn't provide legal advice or represent you in court. Instead, an expert witness handles the technical questions a legal team often can't answer on its own.”
Do You Need an Online Defamation Attorney? | Bill Hartzer - published by Hartzer Consulting, LLC