Reviews are great because a good review will do wonders for a company and their product. A bad review on the other hand will tarnish the reputation of a company, and while sometimes a bad review is legitimate, more often than not we are seeing bad reviews used as a weapon by online users to harm a company or a brand.Regardless we suppose a fake bad review is tantamount to slander, and over in the Netherlands, a judge has ordered Google to hand over the IP addresses and details of people who have been leaving fake reviews for a nursery in which the reviews left on Google+ made false allegations that the nursery was harming children.
This case has been taking place for a while now and prior to this, the nursery in question had attempted to ask Google to take the reviews down, and even provided evidence that they were fake and copied and pasted from other websites. Google back then claimed that the reviews fell under the protection of freedom of speech, which then forced the nursery to take Google to court.
This case is also particularly important as it marks the first time that Google has been ordered to provide contact details and IP addresses for Google reviewers. It is unclear if Google will comply or appeal it, but a statement provided to TechCrunch reads, “We’ve received the ruling and are reviewing it but nothing else to share at this time.”