Yelp stock falls as FTC says it’s received more than 2,000 complaints about site

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request made by The Wall Street Journal, the Federal Trade Commission has published (PDF) a letter stating that it has received more than 2,000 complaints filed against Yelp since 2008. An unnamed company spokesperson also told The Wall Street Journal that Yelp receives on average six subpoenas per month ordering the company to hand over information, sometimes about its anonymous reviewers.

Yelp did not immediately respond to questions from Ars.

Since the FTC’s publication of the FOIA letter, Yelp’s stock price has fallen more than 12 percent.

As Ars has previously reported, Yelp has been publicly accused of extortion for years. Its practice of asking for money from businesses that are automatically listed on the site, whether they wish to be or not, in exchange for preferred placement on the site has been condemned by some business owners.

Earlier this year, a case involving a Virginia woman who left a scathing review for a local contractor—who responded in kind—resulted in both parties defaming each other, with damages for no one. In 2013, a small San Diego law firm that was sued by Yelp resulted in binding arbitration over alleged fake reviews.

Yelp is also currently facing a lawsuit brought by a Virginia carpet cleaner who says that his business suffered after he refused Yelp’s paid services and subsequently received negative reviews. Joe Hadeed sued to compel Yelp to turn over the names of those who he believes defamed him, and he won at two lower court levels (PDF). Yelp has now appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court to hear the case. Paul Alan Levy, a well-known First Amendment lawyer, is representing Yelp in the case and has argued in previous briefs that under American law, everyone has the right to free speech, even anonymous speech.

In the company’s most recent annual report (10-K), which was filed in March with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Yelp reported that it lost more than $10 million in 2013—a total of $57.5 million in losses over the last five years.