Scrub Your Google Rep —for a Hefty Price

Call it the "Google Gap." The true dividing line between the haves and have-nots in the Internet age is between those who can afford to "clean up" their online pasts, and the rest of us who are saddled with embarrassing pictures and inappropriate comments for all eternity. For those who can afford it, online "reputation managers" offer to scrub your Internet footprint —for a hefty price, reveals Gawker.

Online image fixers have been around for a while, but they used to be dominated by large corporations. Now, more and more companies like Reputation.com are offering those services to individuals—but it's pricey. Just how pricey, though, neither Gawker nor the New York Times will say. Nor do they describe techniques. "Their methods are kept rather ominously under wraps—like, maybe they've kidnapped a Google engineer's kid to use for leverage," guesses Gawker. (More online reputation stories.)