Yelp was recently sued in federal district court in Los Angeles, California for, essentially, extortion. The plaintiffs in Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital Inc. v. Yelp Inc. say Yelp salespeople demanded monthly payments in exchange for removing or toning down negative reviews. The plaintiffs–who are seeking class action status for the suit–say Yelp has violated California’s unfair competition law.
Yelp responded on their official blog:
We know this lawsuit to be without merit, we will fight it vigorously, and we are confident we will prevail. And we will not be dissuaded from our mission of helping people connect with great local businesses in their communities. In fact, we will continue to expand to new markets both in the US and internationally, and to provide innovative new ways “to Yelp.”
via Yelp Official Blog: Lady Justice Needs a Lawsuit Filter…..
Wendy Davis at MediaPost has more, including a link to the complaint:
“Yelp frequently exercises its control over the Yelp.com listing application to modify business listing pages to the advantage of businesses that purchase Yelp advertising subscriptions, and the disadvantage of those that decline,” Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital owner Gregory Perrault alleges in a complaint (PDF) filed in federal district court in the central district of California.
via Yelp Sued For Offering To Bury Bad Reviews In Exchange For Ads.
Highlights from the complaint include:
- An allegation that “Yelp, however, regularly manipulates the content on Yelp.com listing pages, despite Yelp’s mantra of ‘Real people. Real reviews.’”
- Another allegation that Yelp promises business owners to remove or relocate negative reviews if a business agrees to a monthly subscription plan through Yelp.
- “Yelp,” argues the complaint, thus “capitalizes on the presumed integrity of the Yelp.com ratings system to extort business owners to purchase advertising.”
- Allegations of specific incidents in which negative reviews on Yelp prompted calls from Yelp sales staff to the plaintiff promising to remove the reviews in exchange for a minimum payment of $300 per month.
- A restatement of information and allegations from an East Bay article on Yelp and other media sources.
In terms of specific violations, the complaint cites the Unfair Competition Law, Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200, and alleges–very generally, in my view–”that the advertising sales and employee reviewing practices of Yelp as alleged herein constitute unfair business acts and practices because they are immoral, unscrupulous, and offend public policy.”
That’s a pretty broad allegation. If the plaintiffs expect to succeed, they’re going to need to get a little more specific than “immoral, unscrupulous, and offend public policy.” Then again, if this is the way Yelp salespeople work, it’s pretty scummy.
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