Last month, the New York Post reported that the Union Street Guest House in Hudson, NY, was employing a rather coercive digital marketing strategy to reduce the presence of negative posts on review websites: charging newlyweds $500 for each negative review about the hotel posted by their guests or individuals in their wedding party.

The policy reads:

“Please know that despite the fact that wedding couples love Hudson and our inn, your friends and families may not,” reads an online policy. “If you have booked the inn for a wedding or other type of event . . . and given us a deposit of any kind . . . there will be a $500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review . . . placed on any internet site by anyone in your party.”

After news of the policy made its way across the internet, including a report on CNN, HuffPost Live reported that the hotel had received over 500 one-star reviews on Yelp (note: those negative reviews have since been removed from Yelp as they were obviously left by individuals who had not actually visited the Union Street Guest House). 

Talk about a policy that backfired! Americans in particular are very reactive against threats to freedom of speech - especially when those policies intended to stifle free speech incur penalties on individuals other than the speaker.

Certainly, businesses are wise to listen to social media to understand customer perceptions of their products and services - one study calculated the value of a positive tweet at $22.26. However, digital marketers would be wise to focus on addressing concerns and complaints rather than simply working to ensure they are never aired.