RealSelf - Seattle Startups

RealSelf is a community-driven website composed of reviews, popularity rankings, and other general information about aesthetics medicine and cosmetic treatments. The site design allows users to ask questions to doctors, write treatment reviews, and share photos of their experiences. RealSelf attracts 8 million unique visitors a month. Business Insider compared it to a hybrid of Yelp and Facebook.

History

RealSelf was created in 2006 by Tom Seery, after his wife had difficulty finding enough information about a laser treatment. The Seattle-based company is financially backed by Rich Barton (founder of Zillow and Expedia), early Microsoft investor Mike Slade, and Barney Harford (CEO of Orbitz).

In 2008, the company raised close to $2 million in funding. In 2013, RealSelf acquired PressPlane, the parent company of Seattle startups Zap’d and Ink’d.

Business model and site content

RealSelf.com is a website where viewers can review treatments and find a plastic surgeon or an aesthetics physician to perform procedures. RealSelf also covers topics in dermatology, dentistry, and even LASIK. The site features reviews, forums, consumer questions, and answers. Treatments are rated “Worth It”, “Not Worth It”, with an option to talk about their experience.

As of 2016, the site was attracting 7.9 million unique users a month. It has been compared to a hybrid of Yelp and Facebook. Many of the photos on the website contain nudity.

Controversy and lawsuits

In 2008, RealSelf was sued by Lifestyle Lift for copyright infringement. They claimed that RealSelf posed as affiliated with Lifestyle Lift, due to the use of their trademark. Lifestyle Lift had a number of negative reviews on RealSelf.com. RealSelf countersued, alleging that Lifestyle Lift hired employees to write false reviews on the site. The case reached a settlement agreement.

Lifestyle Lift was later fined $300,000 by the state of New York for hiring employees to post false reviews to third-party review sites, including RealSelf.