A little over a year ago, Yelp and the federal government finalized a terms of service agreement that allows federal agencies and offices to claim their Yelp listings, respond to reviews and measure visitor activity to their listings on Yelp. We believed at the time that our platform could be a bridge connecting citizen-consumers to… Read more
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Consumer Review Fairness Act (HR. 5111), which would ban so-called “gag clauses” — provisions that prohibit posting feedback about goods and services — in consumer form contracts nationwide. Yelp applauds the House for quickly moving on this bill. The protection of free speech and expression, both online… Read more
Today, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice is holding a hearing on the SPEAK FREE Act of 2015. This legislation will bolster our First Amendment protections, ensuring that honest speakers have a way to quickly and economically end meritless lawsuits that target them for what they’ve said online — on review… Read more
Did you know, in addition to listings for restaurants, mechanics, and many other types of local businesses, there are almost 100,000 public service and government listings on Yelp? You can find useful reviews on everything from passport offices, social security offices, local post offices and even the department of motor vehicles. You read that right:… Read more
Today, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing on “How Gagging Honest Reviews Harms Consumers and the Economy,” focusing on the proposed Consumer Review Freedom Act and preventing non-disparagement clauses in consumer contracts. Americans have a deep tradition of sharing opinions, whether directly through word of mouth to our friends and… Read more
Full functionality is now offered on pages of federal government services. Yelp is excited to announce that it has concluded a negotiated terms of service agreement with the federal government that will allow federal agencies and offices to claim their Yelp pages, read and respond to reviews, and incorporate that feedback into service improvements. Yelp… Read more
Businesses and powerful interest groups routinely threaten the rights of consumers who speak out on matters of public interest on sites like Yelp. Many of them try to pervert the legal system with Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and bogus non-disparagement clauses in an effort to silence their critics. In the United States, Yelpers enjoy… Read more
On March 3, 2015, Steve Wynn lost a defamation lawsuit in California based off of an anti-SLAPP motion. Who is Steve Wynn and why the heck should I care, you ask? Well, he’s got money and isn’t afraid to sue his critics. Less than three weeks after Wynn lost the defamation lawsuit, the State Senate,… Read more
This week the Supreme Court of Virginia protected consumers’ right to privacy and free speech by agreeing with Yelp that a Virginia court lacked jurisdiction to enforce a subpoena from Hadeed Carpet Cleaning seeking private information about several of our users. If Hadeed wishes to issue a subpoena in the correct jurisdiction of California, we are… Read more
Since Yelp’s inception as a platform to connect people with great local businesses around them, we have supported and relied on the principles of an open and free Internet in order to do business. These principles, which have become enshrined in the term “Net Neutrality,” provide that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should treat all legal… Read more