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Ask HN: How to stop Google from autocorrecting our company name?

14 points by woleium ↗ HN
Our small cloud consulting company Autimo has been facing a frustrating issue with Google searches. Whenever potential clients try to search for our company name “Autimo,” Google automatically corrects it to “autismo,” which is obviously not ideal for our brand.

We’re a Vancouver-based cloud consulting firm founded in 2018, specializing in DevOps, cloud engineering, and AWS/Azure/GCP solutions. This autocorrection issue is becoming a real problem for our discoverability and brand identity.

Has anyone dealt with a similar autocorrection problem? What strategies worked for you to make Google recognize your brand name as a legitimate search term? We’ve considered various approaches but would appreciate insights from the HN community on the most effective solutions.

Would increasing our online presence help? Should we contact Google directly? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

12 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 38.1 ms ] thread
scarface_74
A long time ago, when the Microsoft Zune was introduced, Google autocorrected it every time you did a search. As it became more popular, it stopped autocorrecting it.

From my brief research, it looks like the only thing you can do is standard SEO techniques.

ricardonunez
Branded searches. You can run a Instagram or TikTok sweepstakes tell people to search for the company name and tell Google to not autocorrect, tweet and share. Give away something to multiple winners to entice people to participate. If you don’t have a big following, pay a creator with a large following to do it.
AnimalMuppet
The simplest answer might be to change your company name.
hideload
For getting potential customers, I believe "Vancouver-based cloud consulting firm, specializing in DevOps, cloud engineering, and AWS/Azure/GCP solutions" should be your primary SEO target over Autimo. Focussing on Autimo might not drive new customers or website visits effectively.
hideload
I understand it is hard and time gruelling process, because I am working on it too. Searching "hideload" will put my website in the first, but I will never be able to find my website in first 10 pages with the search term "file versioning software". But, things will get better with the efforts you put in. Hope that helps!
mkbkn
Run paid ads (PPC) to your brand.
djhn
This is the winning move.

Unlike keyword ads, brand name ads on Google are ludicrously cheap. You will probably end up paying $0.05-$0.10 per click for ’Autimo’, whereas broadly targeted ads for ’cloud services’ might run you $2.00-$20.00 per click.

It will also give you a lot more insight into the search volume!

woleium
Makes sense. i guess it’s another way for google to extract cash from us, lol.
skillwee
facing the same problem. Hope as my app becomes popular and search volume increases, Google will stop autocorrecting.
BorisMelnik
guerilla method: get this thread to #1 on HN and have every person search for "Autimo" AND THEN every person click your URL. within 1 week your autocorrect issue will be solved and your branded ranking issues should be solved as well.

it would also make a sick case study!

also liked what mkbkn said, def run PPC for your company name, it should be dirt cheap (unless your competitors start bidding against you)

woleium
haha, that would be lovely, but somehow i doubt this is interesting enough for that!
uncomplexity_
google is unreachable by design.

i think you're the one who should rename your company to Autismo, Inc.