MouthShut.com

MouthShut.com is an India-based user-generated content and consumer review platform on the Internet.

MouthShut.com
Type of businessPrivate company
Type of site
social media consumer reviews
HeadquartersMumbai, India
Founder(s)Faisal Farooqui
Industrybusiness ratings and reviews, product discovery
URLmouthshut.com
Alexa rank 8,736 (July 2020)[1]
Advertisingyes
RegistrationRequired for posting
Current statusActive
Native client(s) oniOS, Android, Windows

On April 29, 2013, MouthShut.com filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India to nullify India's Information Technology Rules 2011. The verdict was in favor of the petitioners Mouthshut.com v. Union of India.

MouthShut.com's work has been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal,[2] Entrepreneur Magazine,[3] and London's Financial Times.[4] MouthShut.com's founder and CEO Faisal Farooqui has been named among the Top Contemporary Entrepreneurs in India.[5]

History

MouthShut.com was founded in 2000 in Mumbai (Bombay), India by Faisal Farooqui.[5] The website hosts reviews of gadgets, restaurants, movies, FMCG goods, travel destinations, banks etc.[6]

In 2008, Mouthshut announced the MouthShut Mobile Service, by which users can send SMS-based reviews;[7][8] it discontinued this feature in 2013 after launching its mobile app.

Impact

Mouthshut claims that its platform has enabled more than 375 Million smart shopping decisions, thereby helping users chose the right products and services. According to The Times of India, MouthShut.com is the leader in the user-generated content space in India.[9] The Asian Age newspaper stated that most Indians online are referring to MouthShut for first hand product reviews and product information[10] The site has been featured in The Economic Times, Times of India, CNBC, NDTV, and Star News,.[11]In a CNBC-TV 18 interview MouthShut.com's CEO stated that MouthShut.com has more than 2 million (2005) registered members. Later, in the filings with Supreme Court of India in 2014, Mouthshut.com stated that the platform serves more than 7 million users per month.

I Ate Here Awards

In 2012, Mouthshut launched the I Ate Here Awards to recognize Best Restaurants in popular cuisine categories. In 2012 MouthShut.com employees physically presented the awards by visiting restaurants and eateries in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Jaipur, Pune and Lucknow.[12]

MouthShut in academic research

A number of articles and MouthShut's content has been used to cite consumer and culture pattern, such as Advertisement And Promotions: An Imc Perspective by Alan D'souza Kruti Shah (Paperback - 2008)[13] A book published by Klett Verlag GmBH in Germany included reviews from MouthShut.com as additional reading material. This was used in Germany for school-level reading material.[14] MouthShut.com has been used as a case study in Consumer Behavior (Wayne et. all, 2008)[15]

MouthShut controversy

To protect its review writers from threats from brands, Mouthshut has stated that it will never reveal the identity of any of its writers unless requested by a court order. The site moved the Supreme Court against sec. 66A of the IT Act as well as reading down of the Rules for taking down of content. On April 29, 2013, MouthShut.com filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India to nullify India's Information Technology Rules 2011. The petition pleads to the Supreme Court that the IT Rules, 2011 should be struck down because they are so vague that it cannot be predicted with certainty as to what is prohibited and what is permitted. A consequence of this law would be the delegation of essential executive function to private parties like MouthShut.com to censor and restrict free speech of citizens or else face legal challenge for user's content.[16]

On Feb 3. 2014, a regional Indian ISP, Beam Fiber, blocked access to MouthShut.com for the citiesy of Bangalore and Hyderabad. As a result, more than half a million people could not access the site.[17] On Feb 5, 2014, Beam Fiber unblocked the website. Indian laws do not allow ISPs to block a website unless ordered by the Department of Telecom. MouthShut termed the block as illegal and has sought compensation from the ISP.; it highlighted this illegal blockage in its petition to the Supreme Court of India. [18]

Verdict by Supreme Court of India

On March 23, 2015, Mouthshut.com won the case against the government of India and Section 66A of the Information Technology Act has been struck down by the Supreme Court of India in Mouthshut.com v. Union of India. The judgement led to reading down of several sections of the Information Technology Act, as a result of which users are now free to post anything on the Internet

References
  1. "mouthshut.com Competitive Analysis, Marketing Mix and Traffic - Alexa". alexa.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  2. "Beware of the Unhappy, Web Savvy Customer - India Chief Mentor - WSJ". blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  3. <https://www.mouthshut.com/help/press.php>
  4. "India: Diligent shoppers offer opportunity to manufacturers - FT.com". ft.com. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  5. "India: Diligent shoppers offer opportunity to manufacturers - FT.com". ft.com. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  6. "Media Inquiries: The Times Of India - MouthShut.com". mouthshut.com. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  7. "Indian Advertising, Media, Marketing, Digital, Advertising Agencies - afaqs!". digital.afaqs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  8. "9769696967 - say goodbye to Premium Rates - jasmine Blog - MouthShut.com". mouthshut.com. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  9. "Media News, Media Advertising, Media Agency, Advertising, Media & Marketing". agencyfaqs.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  10. "Media Inquiries: The Asian Age - MouthShut.com". mouthshut.com. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  11. "Media Inquiries: The Economic Times - MouthShut.com". mouthshut.com. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  12. "afaqs! > News > Company Briefs > Mouthshut.com announces the results of 'I Ate Here' Awards". afaqs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  13. "Advertising and Promotions Information Center:". highered.mcgraw-hill.com. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  14. "Ernst Klett Verlag - Schulbücher, Lehrmaterialien und Lernmaterialien". klett-verlag.de. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  15. Hoyer, W.D.; Macinnis, D.J.; Dasgupta, P. (2008). Consumer Behaviour, 2008 Edition. Dreamtech Press. ISBN 9788177227543.
  16. "MouthShut.com Approaches Supreme Court to Safeguard Freedom of Expr..." slideshare.net. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  17. "Update: Mouthshut Blocked By Beam Fibre; Issue Escalated To TRAI And DoT - MediaNama". medianama.com. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  18. "Mouthshut finally unblocked, will consider legal action against ISP". exchange4media.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
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