ARKtech has been talking about the probability of test cases when it comes to online liable. There have already been a few against Yelp, the site where many businesses appear, experience the wrath of online reviewers, and the filtering of reviews. Now it seems that somew businesses are seeking legal action against reviewers who post damaging statements online.
When posting online reviews, it can open you up to liable and this is one of two cases to hit the news over the last month. This is why it is important for businesses to be able to establish a solid reputation culture within a business while also inviting reviews.
Yelp is notorious for filtering out reviews and once negative reviews appear, the algorithm seems to work again the business. In one case, we found 52 filtered reviews (mostly 4 and 5 star ratings) and only a dozen or so online–most of those 3 stars and less. This is disturbing because it isn’t accurate and despite what people claim, the Yelp contract for advertising does nothing to alleviate that situation.
A a business owner, how do you feel about suing a client over something like this?
We don’t think that is a good answer and encourage businesses to work with a service that provides a review inbox. If you have one, less than happy customers, clients or patients can be contacted to resolve a situation before it results in a negative online review. In fact, they often change opinions if handled correctly. They need to be heard and issues should be resolved as quickly as possible.
Providing an option for feedback and having a certificate of authenticity helps keep everyone honest. If the review is good, it can be posted online and the reviewer can be directed to also leave a review on another influence directory.
Don’t dismiss bad or negative reviews since the data indicates that consumers look for at least 10 reviews before choosing a company or service to work with. If they find even one negative review they are likely to choose a competitor.
Because we are now in a reputation economy don’t ignore this issue. Begin working on your reputation today.
If you need help, don’t hesitate to contact ARKtech and be sure to also subscribe to our web-u-cation series to stay on top of trends such as this.
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