Fake reviews on Tripadvisor
 

This morning on MSNBC, they interviewed a person who revealed that he has had a business in which hotels or restaurants hire him to write fake positive reviews on Tripadvisor as well as fake negative reviews of competitors. I wonder how much of this goes on.

Probably a lot. Thankfully, I can usually spot them by them being almost too positive or too negative. I usually go by the ones in the middle or if there are a lot of reviews calling out the same issues. Of course, you have to take them all with a grain of salt.

I guess more than I like to think about...The "upsetting' issues bout this interview--"fake" pictures on the hotels web sites. Well, maybe not fake but 'doctored" As view of rooms interior
were not accurate. Ex: one side of room had windows looking into trees...actually that side of room was a blank wall.::room had 'view of ocean"--3/4 picture show cement wall with tiny side of water.
I have used Trip Advisor for years and never felt the places I stayed were misrepresented..but then again ????

We booked a hotel in Seattle last year, which had many, many positive reviews on tripadvisor. No one mentioned that the hotel was in a crummy area and looked out on a gentleman's club that emptied out in the wee hours of the morning with lots of drunken shouting. Since that debacle, I am very wary of their reviews.

It would be disheartening to learn that's the norm and not the exception. I use TA before booking any new-to-me hotel/B&B and I am a frequent contributor. I have never been paid, but I have written all types of reviews -- glowing, middle of the road and fairly negative.

I guess it's true for TA as any forum -- take all opinions with a grain of salt!

I am leery of TripAdvisor reviews by people who have posted only one review--and there often many of them.

I recently stayed at a B&B in Mendocino that some claimed was "a little bit of heaven" with a "wonderful breakfast." The reviews must have been written by people who usually stay at Motel 6 and start the day with Pop-Tarts.

htty - you made me spit on my monitor. I use the forums more than the review section.

My regrets.

I've received better advice on TripAdvisor for selecting hotels in Europe than in the USA, and I believe TripAdvisor has helped me avoid booking rooms that are noisy or inconveniently located.

HTTY

I've been a regular contributor on Trip Advisor for years as well as Fodors. You definatly have to read between the lines and do more research than just reading those reviews. I never give credit to reviews in which it's the reviewers first post, it's the reviewers first time out of the country, it's the reviewers honeymoon, the review is too positive or too negative. You have to spend a great of time on there to figure out what's correct and what's not. I write good and bad things in all my reviews. As a matter of fact my last review for Playa del Carmen was pretty bad after 3 trips there and I received a couple of snotty remarks for it. Including feedback from the hotel we stayed at. It's just an opinion. Take it or leave it. I agree I use the forums more than the reviews. More info and you can ask questions and get good feedback. Fortunatly, TA is not the only web-site out there in order to research good info for travel.

I also am a regular contributor at Trip Advisor in 5 different destination forums. I rarely read the hotel reviews section. As far as being "wary of their reviews"... there is no *their* at TA just a collection of posters same as here.

When you use the forums, you can ask people in more detail about something negative they've said.

I am always wary of any review that is ALL positive or ALL negative. I mean, let's be real here. Have any of us stayed anywhere that had no faults?

<b>How to spot FAKE hotel reviews:</b>
--DON'T READ any reviews by posters who have only 1 contribution.
--Click on the reviewer's name and review their on-line history. Do they sound like a real traveler?
--<b>Real reviewers</b> tend to use the word <b>"I"</b> a lot, and include unique details. <b>Fake reviewers</b> tend to use the word <b>"you"</b> a lot...for example a fake review may say "You should stay here...they will take good care of you...you will have a great experience if you stay here". That's a fake review!
--The <b>most reliable hotel reviews</b> are written by posters with a large number of contributions. These posters usually have contributed detailed trip reports as well.
--A real traveller usually posts questions before a trip, then posts a trip report, and hotel reviews...then may answer questions about his/her trip. Look for reviews by these travellers.

Fodors and tripadvisor are both most helpful if you visit them regularly for years...until you "know" the experienced travellers...you can literally "follow" them around the world! (-: For example, I can vouch for anything posted by "shillmac" or "melnq8"...because I have followed their advice for years and had great trips! :-D

Another flag for a lot of spin is when a small place has way way too many reviews compared to it's size. This is a sure sign that the owner is pumping up postive reviews to push the lodging up to the #1 slot, since TA uses the number of reviews as part of their ranking formula. I particularly discount the ranking and read the reviews from the bottom up, discounting the one\ofs.

I know at least one Destination expert who owns a hotel, and tries to steer people on the forum to his locale and suggests that they review the rankings (which they have of course inflated). He used to directly recommend it, now he is just more subtle.

Trip Advisor is aware of this problem and tries (not always successfully) to keep the fake reviews away. I used to be a DE back in the dark ages when we were called local experts, and there were some REALLY obvious scams then. A Key West B&B was named the top B&B in the world by TA, when it wasn't even considered above average (if that) by Key West locals.

I don't normally read reviews unless someone mentions them in a forum, and as others have said, if it's a first-time poster, I'm very reluctant to believe it. At least in forums, other people can usually spot a fake and aren't shy about questioning it.

mlgb - I'm stunned there's a DE who owns a hotel! What a colossal mistake!!!

TA is quite aware of this. Not only do they tolerate it, they allow him and his friends to flag and have removed postings that mention this issue.

Has anyone ever read that letters to editor are written by pros as well?

I read the hotel reviews and contribute hotel reviews on TA. So far so good. I take them in their totality. Really really pisses me off that there would be fake reviews, but isn't all adverting pretty much a fake review? It's just there you know what you're looking at. All things done with the intention to deceive are annoying, but we're surrounded by that everyday.

Yeah, those reviews are troublesome. The #1 activity in my town (according to TA) would never be the first thing a real traveler would want to do in my beautiful city.

For the reasons above and more, I do not post on TA. Besides false reviews, there are some who have no idea of which they speak when it comes to reataurants.

As some have noted, you need to read between the lines and have a good BS detector. So why bother?

So true. Some people have no idea from whence they speak period. I have been to Prague but I won't be on the Prague forum giving bad advice. And I only recommend restaurants that I've been to more than once. Anything glowing and drippy sounds fake as do vague haters.