Yelp Sues Three Websites That Promise Positive Reviews On Its Service

Yelp has taken a lot of heat in recent times, with many businesses alleging that the company favors good reviews for those who purchase ad space on its website. However, a controversial California court ruling stated that the company does indeed have the right to offer such incentives to businesses, which left many wondering just how reliable it is to read reviews on Yelp.

Now, it’s Yelp who is launching a lawsuit against three website operators who allegedly advertise their ability to help business owners improve their reviews. The defendants, Edward Herzstock, Alec Farwell and Melissa Scheinwald, allegedly operate the sites Yelpdirector, Revpley and Revleap. The basis for the lawsuit is that Yelp claims that these websites offer to “sell business owners 4 and 5 star Yelp reviews and to ‘filter’ or remove businesses’ existing 1, 2 and 3 star Yelp reviews.”

Yelp says that it learned about this situation when it received complaints from businesses who received unsolicited email ads for these services. The claim includes the statement that one email said that the defendants had “invented” software that enables businesses to create “a large number of 4 and 5 star reviews from your customers in a way that makes them stick to the front page of Yelp.”

“While Yelp’s online reviews are a trusted resource for consumers to learn about local businesses, unfortunately some try to game the system and undermine that trust, by building businesses based on fraudulent reviews, invasive spam, and conduct that otherwise violates the law as well as Yelp’s terms of service,” alleges Yelp in its complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

According to Yelp, these three websites display the word “Yelp” on their social media pages and in advertisements, which constitutes trademark infringement as it confuses people. “Yelp has experienced actual consumer confusion from individuals who have complained to Yelp about defendants’ services and spam messages, mistakenly believing those services and spam messages emanated from Yelp,” the company alleges. Yelp also claims that the defendants violate other laws, including ones that relate to cybersquatting and false advertising.

If this is all sounding familiar, that’s because this isn’t the first time that Yelp has sued a company for promising to help businesses to boost their ratings on its website. Last year, Yelp won a default judgement against Florida resident Timothy Catron, who allegedly operated the fake-review company AdBlaze. In that case, the court ruled that Catron infringed Yelp’s trademark, and awarded Yelp $45,000 in damages as well as prohibiting Catron from using Yelp’s name in ads or website names in the future.

What are the defendants saying about this latest lawsuit?

Revleap’s owners were dismayed upon hearing about the lawsuit, with co-owner Alec Farwell stating that Yelp is “destroying small business owners” and calling the accusations “ridiculous.”

So, who are we to believe? Truly, many businesses find this a confusing situation, as last year’s court ruling stated that Yelp has the right to arrange its reviews as it sees fit, which may sometimes be based on which companies choose to purchase ads. However, whether this seems fair or not, it doesn’t necessarily mean that other companies can promise similar incentives, and it will be interesting to see how the court rules in Yelp’s new lawsuit against these three website operators.