The meteoric rise in the dimensions of e-commerce have been matched by internet reviews posted on Yelp, Amazon, TripAdvisor, Facebook and Twitter. Positive reviews enhance a company’s profitability, while negative reviews harm them. Some harmful internet reviews are, in fact, legally abusive. Statutory, contract-related breach of “duty of good faith and fair dealing,” and tort legal remedies are available to combat abusive internet reviews.

Cornell University research suggests that e-commerce participants are more inclined to be swayed by recommendations posted on the internet than any other recommendations, other than personal firsthand experience and recommendations from friends and family. Thus, abusive internet reviews can have significant adverse consequences.