The Regional Court of Stuttgart dealt with the anti-competitive nature of advertising with purchased Facebook “Likes” in the context of preliminary injunction proceedings (Regional Court of Stuttgart, decision of 06.08.2014, Ref. 37 O 34/14 KfH).
Advertising with “fake” fans
The young company against which the proceedings were directed had advertised with the high number of “likes” on its Facebook page. In total, this should have been more than 14,000. The company had received these within a very short time. However, the applicant was able to credibly demonstrate to the court that these “likes” had been purchased by the company. In practice, this can often be recognized by the fact that the majority of fans come from an unusual country of origin. This was also the case before the Regional Court of Stuttgart.
Misleading advertising with “Likes” is unfair
The court considered the advertising with the large number of fans to be anti-competitive behavior. Specifically, the behavior constituted misleading advertising in accordance with. § 5 Abs. 1 UWG. This was rightly objected to by the applicant. The Regional Court of Stuttgart therefore logically prohibited the company from
to advertise in the course of trade by means of purchased “fans”/”likes” or “likes” on the Facebook internet platform and thereby create the impression that these persons have clicked the “like” button because they like the company or the products of the defendant.
The impression should not be created that such a large number of people have taken a liking to the company’s services or the company itself if the fans actually only give their “like” in return for payment.
Relevance also for Twitter & Co
The ideas behind this decision can probably also be applied to other social networks. Wherever advertising can be based on the number of followers, fans, friends, etc., companies should make sure that this only happens if the community “follows” voluntarily. Those who buy their followers and fans should be cautious with corresponding advertising.