As Yelp turns 20, online reviews continue to confound and confuse shoppers

  For the past 20 years, Yelp has been providing a platform for people to share their experiences at businesses ranging from bars to barbershops. According to the company, in that time, the platform has published 287 million user reviews of over 600,000 businesses.

  There’s a reason review sites like Yelp are so popular. No one wants to spend their hard-earned money on a dud product, or fork over cash for a bad meal. So we’ll seek advice from strangers and use various clues to judge if a particular review is authentic and reliable.

Gene Policinski: Getting ‘SLAPP’d’ for getting involved — new protections considered

  Have you ever been SLAPP’d?

  SLAPP stands for “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation,” and it’s a technique as old as lawsuits to stifle competition brought by the rapacious moguls of the early Industrial Age, and as modern as lawsuits against online critics.

  A section of the Communications Decency Act shields online sites from defamation suits and other kinds of civil actions over content posted by third parties — but not the people who post the material. Nearly one-half of states provide some protection against SLAPP lawsuits – some limited only to communication with the government – but a new U.S. House proposal, HR 2304, would add to those defenses, proponents say.

Ken Paulson: When online reviews lead to lawsuits

  When a Minnesota man felt his family was treated shabbily by a neurologist, he made sure the world knew about it.

  Dennis Laurion posted caustic reviews of Minnesota neurologist David McKee, saying he was insensitive to his father’s needs and claiming that a nurse called the doctor “a real tool.” This angered McKee, who offered his own prescription: a libel suit.