[tomjakubowski]

There is no "conviction" for a civil case, and the standard of proof is far lower in civil court than criminal. Has Yelp ever lost one of these lawsuits? Mostly they seem to get thrown out of court.

Anecdotally, I knew a business owner who complained about Yelp hiding negative reviews on a competitor's page, presumably because the competitor was an advertiser and his business was not. Reading the negative reviews, though, they were _obviously_ shams; it wouldn't be surprising if the complaining businessman had left them himself.