MouthShut.com

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Indian review website

title: "MouthShut.com" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["review-websites"] description: "Indian review website" topic_path: "general/review-websites" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MouthShut.com" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Indian review website ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox dot-com company"]

FieldValue
nameMouthShut.com
logo_size227px
url
website_typeReview and ratings
locationMumbai, India
launched2000
founderFaisal Farooqui
commercialYes
registrationRequired for posting
current_statusActive
::

| name = MouthShut.com | logo = | logo_size = 227px | company_type = | url = | website_type = Review and ratings | location = Mumbai, India | launched = 2000 | founder = Faisal Farooqui | industry = | advertising = | native_clients = | commercial = Yes | registration = Required for posting | current_status = Active

Mouthshut.com is a consumer review and rating platform founded in 2000 by Faisal Farooqui. The platform hosts user-written reviews and ratings for over 800,000 products and services available in India. The platform covers over 400 categories. The company has been involved in legal challenges regarding internet intermediary rules, notably petitioning the Supreme Court against provisions of the Information Technology Rules, 2021, which led to the repeal of Section 66A and the reading down of intermediary guidelines.

History

Faisal Farooqui conceived the idea of a review website in 1998 while attending the State University of New York at Binghamton. He recognized the significance of customer feedback for business growth during a class.

He returned to India and launched MouthShut.com in late 2000. The platform was initially marketed via a curated email list of 1800 individuals, including contacts of the company's initial employees, staff, friends, and relatives.

Later, Farooqui used the rear space of auto rickshaws as a medium to promote the website. In 2001, the team implemented a 'Dial-the-CEO' option, allowing users to provide direct feedback.

Video reviews for products and services were enabled on the platform in December 2006.

In May 2007, Farooqui expanded the video review concept into a dedicated video review platform, Dekhona.com.

In December 2008, the platform introduced mobile reviews that could be posted via an SMS shortcode.

In July 2012, the website transitioned from a reviews-only platform to one providing buying guides.

Products

In May 2011, MouthShut.com launched Dealface.com, a website offering sales deals across industry segments. This was later integrated into Mouthshut.com.

In May 2014, the company launched its mobile application for Android and iOS.

Awards and recognition

In 2006, MouthShut received the Manthan Award for Best Youth Website from the Govt. of India.

MouthShut.com received the Best Portal of the Year - Gold award at the first India Digital Media Awards.

MouthShut CEO Faisal Farooqui has been credited with introducing Web 2.0 concepts in India.

Faisal is mentioned as one of the first Indian dotcom founders of the 21st century.

Mouthshut.com and freedom of speech

To protect its review writers from threats by brands, MouthShut stated in its filings with the Supreme Court of India that it would not reveal the identity of any review writers unless ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction. On April 29, 2013, MouthShut.com filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India challenging India's Information Technology Rules 2011. MouthShut.com argued that this law would effectively delegate essential executive functions, such as censoring and restricting citizens' free speech, to private parties like MouthShut.com, leaving them vulnerable to legal challenges over user content. The verdict was in favor of MouthShut.com, leading to the repeal of Section 66A and the reading down of IT Rules and intermediary guidelines.

Controversies

In February 2014, MouthShut was blocked by Bangalore-based ISP ACT Internet company and its Hyderabad-based subsidiary Beam Fiber, without a stated reason. The company escalated the issue with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Later, the website was unblocked by the two ISPs.

In December 2017, the company blocked 80,000 fake user profiles to prevent potential spamming and fake reviews.

In March 2018, MouthShut.com deleted 4,100 user profiles that were posting fake reviews.

References

References

  1. Reddy, Sujata. (2017-03-01). "Food above all! Not just meetings, Mouthshut's Faisal Farooqui pitches in at the office canteen too". The Economic Times.
  2. "'Work for the sake of passion, not a paycheck'".
  3. "Mouthshut.com (India) Private Limited Information".
  4. "India: Diligent shoppers offer opportunity to manufacturers - FT.com". ft.com.
  5. Datta, Saurav. (18 September 2014). "This Supreme Court petition could be a big step in the fight for Internet democracy in India".
  6. Sen, Shreeja. (2014-08-30). "SC seeks govt reply on PIL challenging powers of IT Act".
  7. Pahwa, Nikhil. (2013-04-29). "MouthShut Challenges IT Rules In The Supreme Court Of India".
  8. (June 2018). "Indian civil society to WhatsApp, Facebook: Ask users before they are added to group chats".
  9. Shanbaug, Amit. (2011-12-19). "Mouthshut.com: Building funds via feedback". The Economic Times.
  10. (2005-10-29). "Swades, the dotcom way - Express Computer".
  11. Mitra, Moinak. (2007-03-23). "Chunnu, Munnu left out as autos load dotcom ads". The Economic Times.
  12. "Dotcoms discover a new marketing vehicle".
  13. (2005-04-20). "Ice people: Faisal Farooqui".
  14. "MouthShut.com launches video review and video blogging platform - Exchange4media".
  15. Cherian, Jacob. (2007-11-02). "Making money with the click of a mouse". The Economic Times.
  16. "MouthShut.com launches mobile reviews".
  17. (2011-12-30). "Mouthshut.com to start its own reviews".
  18. Saxena, Anupam. (2011-05-13). "Deal Sites Launched By MouthShut, IndyaRocks; Suggestions".
  19. "Mouthshut.com launches Dealface.com".
  20. Mallya, Harshith. (2014-02-19). "App Review: Mouthshut's newly launched Android app".
  21. (8 August 2006). "Manthan Awards announced in 14 categories".
  22. Chandra, Avinash. (2023-02-01). "Meet India's Top Professional Bloggers who Dominate Blogosphere".
  23. (31 July 2012). "Exclusive {{!}} Opinion, that matters: MouthShut's Faisal Farooqui".
  24. "The First Class of the Indian Startups: The Unsung Heroes".
  25. (2014-03-11). "We believe that a consumer's review is sacrosanct: MouthShut.com".
  26. Das, Soma. "Section 66A of IT Act: We took up battle, big guys didn't, says MouthShut founder Faisal Farooqui". The Economic Times.
  27. (2015-03-24). "Sec 66A of IT act scrapped: 5 points observed by Supreme Court".
  28. (2015-03-24). "SC strikes down 'draconian' Section 66A". The Hindu.
  29. "Update: Mouthshut Blocked By Beam Fibre; Issue Escalated To TRAI And DoT - MediaNama". medianama.com.
  30. (2015-12-29). "Nine Indian startup CEOs write to TRAI against zero-rating platforms".
  31. "Mouthshut finally unblocked, will consider legal action against ISP". exchange4media.com.
  32. "Mouthshut finally unblocked, will consider legal action against ISP - Exchange4media".
  33. Sarkhel, Aritra. (2017-12-05). "Mouthshut gags 80k fake user profiles". The Economic Times.
  34. (2021-04-29). "Legal Notice To Faisal Farooqui For Remove Fake Review Post On His website Mouthshut.Com - IMTS INSTITUTE".
  35. (2013-06-13). "The Irony of a Name".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

review-websites