In Hassell v. Bird, the court upheld First Amendment protection for online publications, ruling (4-3) that Yelp could not be ordered to take down a defamatory review. The importance of online reviews to your marketing strategy Business owners have to pay attention to online reviews because they can have a huge impact. And as the owner of an online marketing company, I see the impact that positive reviews make in our clients’ search rankings and lead totals. If you don’t deliver a positive experience to your customers, you will have more negative reviews than you can handle. Ask all of your customers to share their experiences with your business. While Yelp’s terms of service object to this practice, I contend that if you ask every customer to share their experience, and you don’t distinguish between happy customers and unhappy customers, you will get an honest review profile. Share positive reviews with your staff. Again, this will make your staff more aware of positive reviews, and by publicly celebrating them and the employees who helped achieve them, you will create an environment of friendly competition that will lead to better customer service and help you get more positive reviews. Always post a response to an online review regardless of whether it is a positive or negative review. Ask customers for more reviews.
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On July 2, the California Supreme Court issued a ruling that could have major implications for California businesses. In Hassell v. Bird, the court upheld First Amendment protection for online publications, ruling (4-3) that Yelp could not be ordered to take down a defamatory review.
The case involved a negative review posted by Ava Bird on California attorney Dawn Haskell’s Yelp profile. Haskell sued Bird — her former client who posted the review — and won by default judgment when Bird failed to appear in court. The Trial Court found statements in the reviews (two separate reviews were at issue even though Bird only admitted to one) to be defamatory and ordered Yelp to take them down.
Yelp was not a party to the case and moved to vacate the trial court’s order based on its due process and First Amendment rights. The trial court denied the motion and the Court of Appeal also rejected Yelp’s appeal.
When the case went to the California Supreme Court, 18 media companies filed Friend of the Court briefs in support of Yelp’s position.
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye overturned the order, stating in an opinion joined by associate justices Ming Chin and Carol Corrigan, “In substance, Yelp is being held to account for nothing more than its ongoing decision to publish the challenged reviews.”
Associate Justice Leondra Kruger concurred for a different reason: “Hassell did not name Yelp as a defendant, so the company did not get its ‘own day in court.’”
Yelp’s general counsel published a blog post celebrating the ruling.
The importance of online reviews to your marketing strategy
Business owners have to pay attention to online reviews because they can have a huge impact. According to a 2016 report from Biznology, 81 percent of consumers report that they do their research online before making a purchase, and 77 percent of online shoppers use reviews to make their final purchase decision.
I see this every day in my personal life and my business. We all check out hotel and restaurant reviews on Google, Yelp and other sites before booking. My wife won’t buy anything on Amazon without checking the reviews. And as the owner of an online marketing company, I see the impact that positive reviews make in our clients’ search rankings and lead totals.
Reviews and star ratings are prominent in Google’s search results including paid search and local/maps. By using Schema code, we have been able to get our clients’ star ratings to show up…
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