bizz directory listing site. Illegal????

[bbminded]

so lets say you wanted to create a local online directory for all the restaurants in your area. so you create the frame work of the website, which would allow the restaurants to sign up for free and create a profile with pics, menu, info etc. and allow people who visit the site the option to rate and comment any restaurant.

So now you have to get the restaurant to sign up. Maybe you(or you hire someone) write a letter and mail or email it out to all the restaurants. wait a few days to see the replies you get and send a follow up mail.

Now lets say you just dont get that many sign ups even though its a free service. Can you as the Amin. of the website just add a basic short listing for as many restaurants as you want, so when people visit the site to read the reviews from others the website looks atleast full. Is this legal or illegal????

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by bbminded

Now lets say you just dont get that many sign ups even though its a free service. Can you as the Amin. of the website just add a basic short listing for as many restaurants as you want, so when people visit the site to read the reviews from others the website looks atleast full. Is this legal or illegal????

I'm not a lawyer, but I'd say it's legal, so long as you are using factual information.

You may have to remove a restaurant if they ask to be removed, but I don't think they have to opt-in to being on your site in the first place.

For example, let's say that Joe's Hamburgers is on 123 Main Street in Your Town. That's a fact. If people go to 123 Main Street, they will find Joe's Hamburgers. Unless Joe's Hamburgers is a secret CIA operation hidden in the basement of Joan's Hair Salon at 123 Main Street, where you need two references and need to know the secret handshake to get in, then it's clearly a fact and public information that Joe's Hamburgers is at 123 Main Street. And, if there's a big sign there that says "Joe's Hamburgers" and the sign on the door says "Joe's Hamburgers" and you can walk in the place and order a hamburger, then what you've got there is a confirmed fact.

So, you can say that Joe's Hamburgers is on 123 Main Street in Your Town. You can say they serve hamburgers if, in fact, they do.

However, be sure to write original content. Don't just copy a blurb from their flyer or TV ad. That would be copyright infringement. But, write your own summary.

At least, that's the way it is in the U.S. Outside the U.S., no idea.

[sevenish]

It's not illegal. Take a look at Zagats or Yelp. Tons of information & reviews on many businesses.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

But, if you live in my town, yeah, maybe it's not illegal, but you shouldn't do it.

[bbminded]

I had a feeling it was not illegal. this was just an example but im working on a site with this kind of concept but will have alot more functions for users. Does anyone find these type of sites for whatever niche your in to work?? Meaning do businesses if contacted eagerly want to be listed?? Or do they frown on this kind of exposure since people can leave remarks about them??

[cma01]

Listing the public information isn't an issue. The catch is the negative comments people may make about a business on your site, particularly when you're trying to get them to pay for additional exposure.

If it's a national site that lists millions of businesses, that's one thing. If it is a hyperlocal site, particularly one that you live in and may run into the business owner, that is entirely another.

I have a site similar to this for my community, and initially I had thought about adding a review feature to the business listings. There is a competing site that is solely reviews, and after seeing some of the comments made by visitors about businesses, I decided against it and just went with a rating system. So there is some feedback available, but people don't have the opportunity to be vindictive.

I'm all about accountability in business, TQM and CRM, but the reality is that some people are just plain nasty and have no compunction about trashing a business.

It is really difficult to develop a relationship with business owners when they feel like you are allowing them to be unjustly attacked. There is some seriously bad feeling towards the owners of the competing site (who don't live in the community anymore by the way,) from business owners. Businesses do have a chance to respond; however, some of the things posted and allowed to stay up were flat out lies.

It's a good opportunity and 90 percent of your community's small businesses need some serious help online, but it's something you need to think through first because as the saying goes, you don't want to mess in your own nest.

[timmykins]

As others have already said, I don't think it is illegal to list the businesses as most of the information is in the public domain already anyway.

Your concerns about negative reviews wouldn't be an issue if you have it built into your system that you moderate the comments. For instance if you are using Wordpress for your review site, set the "An administrator must always approve the comment" option in the Settings/Discussion section of the dashboard. Any openly defametry comments can just be deleted. You can do the same in Joomla too.

Also, if you place a disclaimer on your site about the fact that the comments are not your opinion, then you should be ok, but a chat with a lawyer would clarify that.

But then again, if a business has a lot of negative reviews would you really want to promote them on your website, even if they are paying you?

Hope this helps

Tim

[theimdude]

Now which business will say no to free advertising. Add all the businesses and then approach them showing them the website. If they care for what they do they will repond to negative reviews. As somebody point out make sure your disclaimer is in place regarding the reviews.