While up to now negative comments accumulate in tons of disparate blogs/forums and PR folks have to police and influence lots of places, the comments will now cluster around the company homepage, which is a location easier to monitor and influence.

Companies will use this space in the same way they use “flogs” (search for it) or they will hire 3rd parties to trash the competition.
It is not surprising google is pushing this feature as ability to control the messaging in these areas, including ad space, is going to be pretty expensive.

For the user population, there is nothing to be happy about wrt this feature.

A fast follower can learn from the mistakes of others and navigate around the pitfalls and come out ahead.

Burying your head in the sand like an ostrich is the wrong strategy. Watch from the sidelines, talk to the players and the coaches, and make sure you have the right equipment on and know the rules before you go out on the field. Let the other players teach you what icing and offsides are, then when you join the game, you can score without having the play called back. A career-ending injury or spending part of the game in the penalty box should be left to those with higher tolerance for risk.