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So You Can Fine A Reviewer Now?

This article is more than 9 years old.

A restaurant has recently taken a reviewer to court for putting a bad opinion online. The restaurant won and the reviewer had to change the text. The story (here's a summary) is European but it has implications for everybody, particularly since part of the judgment hinged on the review's prominence on Google search results.

The blogger had to change the title and pay $2000 in damages. She has made a number of comments suggesting that this means it is now a crime to be highly ranked in Google and that influence is only allowed if you are going to be nice about people.

It's hard to disagree. It's also hard to sympathise with a judgment that says having 3000 followers makes someone very influential (for an amateur blogger that's great of course; for a blog of any substance and seriousness it's not).

The real loser, though, may well prove to be the restaurant. Taking someone to court because they have published a blog, which doesn't purport to be anything other than opinion, is not going to play well with the public.

Dealing with criticism

If you own a business that attracts reviews, someday you're going to get a bad one. It's a fact, deal with it.

The best advice would be not to start waving lawyers at the writer. However aggrieved you feel, you're going to end up looking like the defensive business owner who raised his or her head above the parapet and was surprised when someone took a pot-shot. If you can't stand the heat...you get the picture. There are, however, things you can do about it:

  • Read without being angry if you can. If someone says your food/accounting skills/book writing stinks, they may have a point. In 2008 I wrote a book on social media. One of the Amazon reviews pointed to an area in which I'd been dismissive of some service providers. He marked me down in his review as a result. On balance I had to agree with him so I took action in the second edition and thanked him as a comment on his review.
  • Respect someone's right to an opinion - America is a democracy after all. If they just hate what you do, focus on the people who don't. A bad review actually adds credibility to the good ones - straight five-stars mean either you're brilliant or it's just your friends and family writing these things.
  • Look for factual inaccuracies. You don't have to look defensive, you can just correct things calmly. "I'm sorry you thought my hot dog stand caused a smell and served burnt food last Monday; actually I work Tuesday to Sunday, could you check those details?" will undermine the writer's credibility as much as you need.
  • Engage with the writer if you can. So, someone turned up when your restaurant was having a bad day - get them back when you're not, offer them lunch and see if you can turn them into an advocate rather than a critic.

If someone is actively damaging your business with falsehoods then you may eventually have no option but to resort to court action, particularly if they're influential and people are seeing them high up on Google search results. However, if they're just expressing an opinion, rising above it is always going to be better than lawsuits. There's now a restaurant in France I won't visit because I know it pushes the little guys around when it goes into a snit.

A glass of wine (Photo credit: Davide Restivo)