Some users may have noticed that they are getting an error message when they vote for certain businesses. The error messages are generated based on newly identified suspicious voting behavior. I’d like to take this opportunity to make the voting rules a little more clear.

There are essentially three situations that will trigger an error message:

1. Voting in the same category, in the same city, more than once in a 24 hour time period.
2. Repeatedly voting for the same business, without voting for other businesses – this is only triggered after you reach a certain number of votes.
3. Large numbers of votes coming from the same ip address but different users in a small amount of time.

Rule number one has always been in effect. Like the other rules rule number one is used to diversify which users have impact on Lopico voting. Lopico is a community and as such must represent the diverse interests of that community, not the opinions of a few.

Rule number two is used to deter users that are seeking only to promote a single business. You will never see this error if you vote for a few different businesses on a consistent basis.

Rule three is the most serious, and may lead to businesses being banned from Lopico. Violations of this rule are typically done with the sole intent of replacing community opinion with the opinion of only one person or very few people.

The best way to make sure that you don’t run afoul of the rules is to diversify your votes. If you have any questions please contact Lopico using the help form.

Thanks, I hope you continue to enjoy Lopico!
- J.D. Amer, founder Lopico.com