online reviews

The lawsuit was one of the cases that inspired the new law — the Consumer Review Fairness Act — that aims to curb one avenue businesses have used to sue customers for posting negative online reviews.

Doctors hate online rankings, saying patients don't get the nuances of medicine. But health care reviews on Yelp are more positive overall than they are for restaurants and other services.

Nineteen companies agreed to pay more than $350,000 in penalties to settle accusations that they wrote or bought phony online reviews of their products, services or restaurants.