Financial benefits against Facebook Like is anti-competitive

Key Facts

Bonn Regional Court ruled that financial incentives for Facebook likes are anti-competitive and misleading.
Pharmacy offered rewards for collected "Schloss-Taler" in exchange for Facebook likes.
The authenticity of likes can be called into question with such offers.
"Likes" reflect social popularity and customer satisfaction.
A clear reference to incentives could dispel the misleading impression, similar to online services.
Buying likes is also anti-competitive, as users are not showing genuine support.
Proof of purchase can be difficult, but does not affect the legal issues.

In the meantime, there have been numerous rulings on the question of whether it is permissible to grant customers benefits when they submit ratings or similar. See this article, this article, and these comments.

The Bonn Regional Court has now also ruled that it is anti-competitive, because it is misleading, to offer customers a financial incentive for a Facebook Like. Because the defendant pharmacy in these proceedings offered bonuses if you collected enough “Castle Thalers” and you received these Castle Thalers if you submitted Facebook Likes, new customers could no longer be sure whether the Facebook Likes were “real” Likes and therefore neutral.

Nevertheless, the number of “likes” already reflects a certain popularity in the general consciousness, which indirectly also indicates customer satisfaction.

This could only be ruled out if the fact had been clearly pointed out, as could be the case with online services or closed communities that are possibly geared towards this.

As a purely precautionary measure, it should be noted that buying Likes via various providers would also be anti-competitive, since these Likes are also not made because the users really like the buyer. The fact that in this case it might be difficult to prove the purchase does not change the legal issue!

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.

Tags: Facebook Judgments Legal question