Recent Court Ruling Puts Anonymous Reviews Under Fire at Yelp

yelpYelp has issued a statement expressing its discontent for a ruling that forces the review giant to disclose anonymous user information. The company worries that its 10 million plus monthly users may have something legitimate to fear when leaving reviews: the long arm of the law.

While no users are specifically in jeopardy yet, the ruling out of Virginia calls into question some of the very protections this country was founded upon. The right to privacy may face its biggest challenge yet, all over a carpet cleaning business. Is Yelp right? Does a different IP address actually signal a different person? The court says no, and further opines that anonymous users cannot fall under the protection of the First Amendment.

It will be interesting to see if Yelp continues its policy of allowing anonymous users full posting rights to its site. For now, business seems to have claimed a victory in this important battle.

Read all about the legal ramifications in this article on Search Engine Journal.

Disclaimer: Due to a legal notice we have received from Yelp, some content on our website have been revised. Fix Bad Reputation is not associated with Yelp, but provides services to improve your reputation, such as removing certain negative reviews and providing tools for increasing your positive reviews.

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