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Fake bad reviews are worse than real bad reviews. A competitor of Romeo & Juliette Laser Hair Removal, Inc. posted fake bad reviews on Yelp.com and CitySearch.com using fake accounts. Romeo & Juliette sued the competitor because it was losing customers. The competitor’s defense was “hey, I’m out of business so you can’t touch me.” Not quite. Recognizing that false comments posted on the Internet have an immeasurable detrimental effect, the judge hearing the case entered a permanent injunction requiring the removal of the false reviews.
WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS. Fake bad reviews are beyond annoying. They can cause an unjustifiable loss of reputation and diminution in revenue. Romeo and Juliette was lucky. It was able to find the fake reviewer. That’s not always easy. Discovering who posted the false reviews can be costly and time consuming. Most review sites have procedures for dealing with fake reviews. But that may not be enough. If the fake bad reviews continue and really hurt a business, there may be no alternative to litigate. The trick is finding the right party to sue.