The research, which surveyed business owners and higher managers from 1,000 companies across the UK, found that almost a fifth of companies were spending as much as £30,000 on the issue.

The research found that 51% of businesses had been directly affected by online content in the last 12 months and that 76% were concerned about the influence on their customers of malicious posts on review sites. A fifth of businesses are now monitoring for online reviews daily. The survey was conducted by OnePoll. Full results can be found here.

This comes at the same time as the Institute of Customer Service released results of a survey revealing a sharp rise in the number of people in the UK making complaints via social media. One in four have done so in the last month, the poll of 2,195 consumers revealed.

However, the Institute stated that organisations had no need to fear these increased levels of activity, as 64% of customers described their interactions as a good experience. It went on to say that companies that ensured employees were fully trained in how social media works and empowered to make quick decisions would have a competitive advantage over those that were slow to adopt.