http://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/t...-1226757110257
TRIPADVISOR has come under attack over fake reviews, with consumer group Choice warning holidaymakers to be on the lookout for hotels' tricks.
Its warning comes after an Accor hotels staff member was reportedly caught posting more than 100 positive reviews on TripAdvisor for Accor hotels around the world.
"The boom in hotel review sites has given rise to the practice of 'astroturfing' or the writing of fake reviews by companies to promote their own accommodation," Choice head of media Tom Godfrey said.
"Yet US-based Trip Advisor, the world's biggest online travel review service, has no plans to improve its verification processes."
More than 88 per cent of Aussie travellers check user reviews before booking a hotel, Choice reports.
Responding to the Choice investigation, TripAdvisor spokeswoman Jean Ow-Yeong said: "Trip Advisor has used sophisticated filters and behavioural modelling. Our large and passionate community of 260 million monthly visitors let us know if they see something amiss."
She said the site has "a world-class international team of specialists that spends 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, making sure our reviews are real".
But Choice pointed to an example in July where a UK restaurant with rave reviews turned out not to exist.
In the US, the New York Attorney General recently levied hefty fines on 19 companies that wrote fake online reviews and created fake online profiles for businesses.
The ACCC and NSW Fair Trading are looking in to similar practices in Australia, Choice said.
Choice has highlighted the option of third party verification - an option that Expedia websites in some countries have chosen to use.
The process requires the reviewer to provide transaction identification reference or evidence there has been a commercial relationship.
Expedia Australia would not say whether it would adopt a similar third-party verification method, Choice said.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for hotels.com - an Expedia subsidiary - said: "Once the stay is completed, we send the guest a link so they can write a review. No incentive is offered for this information."
Neither Travelocity nor Orbitz responded to questions about verifying the authenticity of reviews.
Read more of the Choice report on hotel review sites.
Choice tips for spotting fake reviews:
• Check reviews about the same business from different sources.
• Keep an eye out for tell-tale signs of fakery such as a sudden increase in positive or negative reviews over a short time frame that are out of sync with earlier reviews.
• Beware of reviews that are allegedly from different people but are suspiciously similar in tone and style.
• A one-star rating by a reviewer for a five-star hotel should be regarded with suspicion.
TripAdvisor also offers tips on how to ensure its reviews are reliable:
• Becoming a registered TripAdvisor user may seem like surrendering your anonymity (to the extent that you have any at all online!), but you'll be able to find out more about the reviewer and the hotel and be in a better position to check on the review's authenticity. You can opt out of being sent promotional material.
• Check the public profile of the reviewer to see what other reviews they've posted. Do their reviews seem balanced and consistent? You can also email the reviewer directly with questions about a specific property if you're a registered user.
• Connect with Facebook friends who've posted reviews on TripAdvisor - another way of double-checking the authenticity of a review.
For more information, read TripAdvisor's guidelines about posts and rules on fraudulent reviews.
TRIPADVISOR has come under attack over fake reviews, with consumer group Choice warning holidaymakers to be on the lookout for hotels' tricks.
Its warning comes after an Accor hotels staff member was reportedly caught posting more than 100 positive reviews on TripAdvisor for Accor hotels around the world.
"The boom in hotel review sites has given rise to the practice of 'astroturfing' or the writing of fake reviews by companies to promote their own accommodation," Choice head of media Tom Godfrey said.
"Yet US-based Trip Advisor, the world's biggest online travel review service, has no plans to improve its verification processes."
More than 88 per cent of Aussie travellers check user reviews before booking a hotel, Choice reports.
Responding to the Choice investigation, TripAdvisor spokeswoman Jean Ow-Yeong said: "Trip Advisor has used sophisticated filters and behavioural modelling. Our large and passionate community of 260 million monthly visitors let us know if they see something amiss."
She said the site has "a world-class international team of specialists that spends 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, making sure our reviews are real".
But Choice pointed to an example in July where a UK restaurant with rave reviews turned out not to exist.
In the US, the New York Attorney General recently levied hefty fines on 19 companies that wrote fake online reviews and created fake online profiles for businesses.
The ACCC and NSW Fair Trading are looking in to similar practices in Australia, Choice said.
Choice has highlighted the option of third party verification - an option that Expedia websites in some countries have chosen to use.
The process requires the reviewer to provide transaction identification reference or evidence there has been a commercial relationship.
Expedia Australia would not say whether it would adopt a similar third-party verification method, Choice said.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for hotels.com - an Expedia subsidiary - said: "Once the stay is completed, we send the guest a link so they can write a review. No incentive is offered for this information."
Neither Travelocity nor Orbitz responded to questions about verifying the authenticity of reviews.
Read more of the Choice report on hotel review sites.
Choice tips for spotting fake reviews:
• Check reviews about the same business from different sources.
• Keep an eye out for tell-tale signs of fakery such as a sudden increase in positive or negative reviews over a short time frame that are out of sync with earlier reviews.
• Beware of reviews that are allegedly from different people but are suspiciously similar in tone and style.
• A one-star rating by a reviewer for a five-star hotel should be regarded with suspicion.
TripAdvisor also offers tips on how to ensure its reviews are reliable:
• Becoming a registered TripAdvisor user may seem like surrendering your anonymity (to the extent that you have any at all online!), but you'll be able to find out more about the reviewer and the hotel and be in a better position to check on the review's authenticity. You can opt out of being sent promotional material.
• Check the public profile of the reviewer to see what other reviews they've posted. Do their reviews seem balanced and consistent? You can also email the reviewer directly with questions about a specific property if you're a registered user.
• Connect with Facebook friends who've posted reviews on TripAdvisor - another way of double-checking the authenticity of a review.
For more information, read TripAdvisor's guidelines about posts and rules on fraudulent reviews.
Comment