The litany of complaints doctors have compiled against Yelp is long. Frustration is based on (a) filtering of reviews – many of which are positive; (b) the perception (right or wrong) that refusal to purchase advertising on Yelp leads to score manipulation; and (c) Yelp appears to “prioritize” reviews of those who post frequently (“Yelpers”) and is perceived to be a non- level playing field.
Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, Inc. had had enough.
He noticed 7 anonymous reviews on Yelp which slammed his business. He asked Yelp to help identify who wrote these reviews, because, after checking his database, he could find no record the negative reviewers were Hadeed’s customers. Yelp fought the subpoena. Hadeed moved to hold Yelp in contempt of court. The circuit court agreed with Hadeed and imposed monetary sanctions and awarded attorney’s fees. Yelp appealed.
