Google Faces Lawsuit by Chicago Doctors over Negative Online Reviews
Two Chicago doctors have recently filed a lawsuit against Google due to negative online reviews written against them. The story started when an Illinois woman complained on the internet that her plastic surgery resulted in facial lumps, and this plastic surgery was performed by none other than these Chicago doctors- John and Jane Doe. According to the complaint filed by doctor duo in Chicago Federal Court, they suffered loss of income and reputation after Google refused their requests to take down reviews as they believe are false and injurious.
What these doctors are talking about is the Google Places app that allows users to find and rate local businesses, lets users assign a star ranking, post comments, and also includes links to other review sites.
Well, this is not the first time that Google has faced lawsuits of a similar nature, as cases were imposed on the search giant in the past. Just last month, the complaining party was Yelp. The local search engine used to get heavy traffic from Google but since the internet search giant launched Places, a service that offers a service similar to Yelp after the Google-Yelp acquisition fell through, Yelp results became second to Google Places results. Representatives from Google competitors are also set to appear in court to present their case.
Another case took place a few days prior, when California’s 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a complaint brought by a roofing company over derogatory comments posted on a Google-related site.
So at this time, the search giant is facing lots of anti-trust issues, which may (or may not_ affect its own reputation. Google’s no stranger to anti-trust suits and has a way of defending its systems in court, so we’ll have to wait and see how these turn out.
Since you’re here …
… We’d like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.’s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we don’t have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary on SiliconANGLE — along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams at theCUBE — take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.
If you like the reporting, video interviews and other ad-free content here, please take a moment to check out a sample of the video content supported by our sponsors, tweet your support, and keep coming back to SiliconANGLE.