Getting fake reviews on Yelp and other similar websites is probably the biggest nightmare of every business owner next to going bankrupt. Having a good reputation online is crucial for the survival of local businesses and even one bad review can have a big impact on the company. Bad reviews aren’t really that bad especially if you look at them as a way to improve how you do business but negative fake reviews are a different matter altogether. If you need help in dealing with fake reviews about your business, here are some points you should know to mitigate the situation. 

What is Yelp?

Yelp.com is operated by Yelp Inc. and was founded in the year 2004. It was created primarily as a site where businesses can advertise themselves by providing business listings. In the past years, it gradually became a social networking and review site where customers can leave reviews on companies. 

Is Yelp Answerable to You?

Websites such as Yelp are protected by the Communications Decency Act. Under Section 230, these sites are not liable for any defamatory content made by its user as they are merely 3^rd party re-publishers of the content. As such, you cannot sue them and you will only be wasting time and money if you do so. In situations such as fake reviews on Yelp, there is limited help the company can give you especially if you do not get professional help in the form of a lawyer or a reputation manager. It is only upon going through the legal law process with the serving of a subpoena that these websites will actually respond to your complaint. 

Filing a Lawsuit

To get the process rolling, you need to file a lawsuit first. If you do not know the identity of the person who is writing the negative reviews about you, you can simply file it against “John Doe”. You need to file a lawsuit before a subpoena under court order can be served to Yelp. A subpoena is necessary under the privacy laws of such websites as they cannot supply a name, email address, or IP log information without it. Although serving a subpoena to Yelp can get you the email address, IP log information, as well as other registration details of the user writing the reviews against you, they will not be able to supply details of emails, recipients of emails, as well as content of any private conversation. Identifying the person writing the fake reviews on Yelp is done by getting the IP information then obtaining user information from the internet service provider with the IP. 

Protecting Yourself from Fake Reviews

Yelp has a review filter to prevent fake reviews as much as possible. It is said that the factors that can trigger the filter include geographic location, frequency, as well as timing. If the business location is in California then the user giving the review is located in Arkansas, this will trigger the filter due to distance in location. A sudden increase in the amount of reviews received will also activate the filter as well as suddenly getting an influx of positive reviews after receiving a negative one.