TripAdvisor in the news again

Following an investigation by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) for being misleading and untrustworthy – as a result of which the review site changed its tagline from ‘Reviews You Can Trust’ to ‘Reviews From Our Community’ – TripAdvisor is again at the centre of controversy when it red flagged a hotelier from Evesham for allegedly posting fake reviews.

The row concerns the Riverside Hotel and Restaurant in Evesham, which reported a dip in bookings and several cancellations after Tripadvisor red flagged the hotel’s listing on its site by warning that “individuals or entities associated with or having an interest in this property may have interfered with traveller reviews and/or the popularity index for this property”.

The hotel owner claims that there was no warning of the red flag – a claim TripAdvisor contests – and contacted online reputation management company Kwikchex (responsible for filing the dossier that spurred the ASA investigation into TripAdvisor) who said that the allegedly fake reviews could have been posted by guests using the hotel’s own WiFi network. TripAdvisor maintains that there has been foul play and that it “applied the red badge to protect consumers".

Another victim of TripAdvisor's accusations is the four-star Cavendish hotel in Jermyn street in London. TripAdvisor said that someone associated with the Cavendish had allegedly posted a positive review about the hotel. Ciaran Fahy, MD of the Cavendish, branded TripAdvisor as 'sinister', because of the seemingly random accusations, which this time targeted a hotel that has invested over £3,000 to be a partner of TripAdvisor.

Listing an accommodation on TripAdvisor is free of charge unless it is a vacation rental (ie self-catering accommodation) for which TripAdvisor has partnered with FlipKey and Holiday Lettings, and which command a small fee.

TripAdvisor also introduced a premium service – Business Listings – which allow 'users' (hoteliers etc) to add contact details and a link to their property's website on their TripAdvisor entry for a monthly subscription fee.