The advertising watchdog has accused TripAdviser of misleading it’s users as not all reviews may be real. The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) accused the website of not verifying whether or not the users who submitted reviews were genuine.
TripAdvisor who claim “Unbiased holiday reviews, photos and travel advice for hotels and vacations” said that anyone reviewing was asked to declare that their review was genuine and honest. The ASA said that this practice did not prevent fake reviews from being submitted.
TripAdvisor said it was practical to screen every review but that it used “advanced and highly effective” systems to detect fraud. TripAdvisor and it’s branded sites claims to have the “larget travel community in the world, with more than 50 million unique monthly visitors, and over 60 million reviews and opinions”.
Source: Sky News
Hi Jeremy,
I got to agree the power is in the integrity. Also I’ve said before that TripAdviser is a bit old skool and will need to revamp it’s technology or someone else will create an better product…eventually.
This is one reason why I think independent blogs can be helpful. However, we have to be careful as well not to sell out our opinions to get a free night. The key with these reviews is integrity. I still believe sites like Trip Advisor are very helpful for travelers. However, it’s sad that people will find ways around the guidelines to try and make themselves look better.