Comments on: TripAdvisor Review Fraud Hits The Mainstream

By: John

John — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:40:23 +0000

I was recently comparing hotels in one mainland city on TripAdvisor and suddenly recognized several of the negative reviews of competing hotels in the same writing style with graphic descriptions of fillthy rooms, baths, etc.

As disturbing as phony favorable reviews may be, the idea that a hotelier posts damaging reviews of neighboring properities is much worse. I think one solution might be for Trip Advisor to post scores but limit pro or con comments to one Tweet-length or shorter phrase. Graphic negative comments should be banned, a positive or negative score is sufficient. The ratings and rankings could still be helpful in some cases at least.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:08:12 +0000

Thanks, Colleen, Shabingie, Pua and Roger.

Good input.

Aloha, Jeff

By: Roger

Roger — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:06:47 +0000

Pua, forums are much more likely to result in objective data due to the fact that you can ask a specific question and receive numerous answers, and if one answer is off the mark, other forum users will step forward and correct bad info.

By: Pua

Pua — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:58:04 +0000

Hello again Jeff,
As followers of ‘Beat of Hawaii’, we know your concern about ‘manipulated reviews’ on Tripadvisor. It looks like finally the entire issue got much more national media attention and Tripadvisor has to take its stand.

A more sophisticated ‘reviewer authentication’ does not seem to me the solution to the problem. It will just make the manipulation of the system a bit harder. Guys this is the Internet! Scammers have always found and will find their way around ‘road-blocks’!

What makes Colleen think that forums are less likely to provide her with the absolute 100% objective feedback, I don’t know, plus remember with all the feedbacks, even the non-manipulated ones, travelers’ subjective opinions about a hotel or a vacation rental vary big time from one another.

However, I know it feels good to read lots of good stuff about a hotel you intend to book…

Aloha Pua
Best Hawaii Vacation Blog

By: Shabingie

Shabingie — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:03:03 +0000

I agree with Colleen, I use the forums instead of the reviews. I find them very valuable. And the user photos tell the “real” story.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:42:33 +0000

I recently noticed a hotel in a city we were planning to visit was voted #1 over A BRAND NEW Hotel with flat screen TV’s, etc. I also noticed that the last couple of dozen reviews were left by people who had no ‘history’ with TripAdvisor – telling me that they were ‘fake’.

I contacted TripAdvisor about – suggesting they look into this particular hotel – and here is their response:

**We take accusations of review fraud very seriously and remain vigilant in order to prevent all instances from appearing on TripAdvisor. We’re constantly refining our automatic filters and editorial training based on feedback like yours, so we very much appreciate hearing from you.**

I watched the same hotel reviews and in a week or so the hotel I reported had moved to #2 – not exactly what I expected. There was never a flag placed on this particular hotel to warn of possible fraud – which I still believe occured.

Basically, I have moved from using the reviews to using the forums. That way you can get info from real people – I have also contacted numerous folks personally via the site and feel I have gotten reliable info that way.

I no longer totally trust the reviews – but, I will check out user photos.