Is it possible that Trip Advisor is generating bad reviews by employing people or technical means? When a bad review is posted, it not only has the offended business checking the site, but all the competitors in the area check on it too.
If this is true, then just think of all the thousands or millions of hits that are generated by this practice alone. Doesn't TA use these numbers to convince us of their validity and to also attract advertisers?
TA is ripe for abuse...who is watching them?
The FTC needs to do a full investigation into TA- What they state they are doing, their fair or unfair trade practices and if what they are doing is indeed legal.
Anyone can place a bad review on Trip Advisor. Anyone can file a complaint with the FTC. It is very easy to do, but unlike TA, you need to give a real name and real information.
I highly suggest anyone with concerns about TA place a formal complaint with the FTC so they become accountable for their actions.
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The hospitality industry needs to wake up and step up. Everyone who has a hospitality business needs to file a complaint with the FTC, contact associations, contact as many media outlets as they can, so the public can understand TA's motivation for posting bad, fake reviews. Hopefully, the public as well as their advertisers will stop using them and they will shut down.
I have stop using their site and I completely discount anything written on their site. They claim they use a secret algorithum to find fake reviews....the algorithum is made by them so they can get it to do whatever they want. They have to keep it a secret....otherwise we would all know that it doesn't even exist!
The people working at TA have given themselves all kinds of titles like "contentintegrity" Integrity...do they even know what the word means?
TA needs to be shut down before they do any more damage to the industry and individual businesses.
Everyone needs to get involved.
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I have been wanting to voice my opinion about these travel review sites. Thank you for starting this thread.
I absolutely agree that Trip Advisor needs to be stopped. The only time I look at it now is when I want to get a good laugh- so I guess it does serve some purpose. Saturday Night live may want to do a skit about it...lots of material to work with!
I just hope it doesn't take much longer for the public to realize how TA is manipulating them and the advertisers. They are making a mockery of the hospitality industry and making money in the process.
I hope that TA, their emplyees, their CEO, and sites like them, are proven liabel for all the damage they have done. A class action suit needs to be started. Are there any ambitious law firms wanting to make a name for themselves?
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I'd like to add my 2 pence worth.
1. Anyone can leave a review regardless of whether they stayed at a hotel or not.
2. Anyone can say whatever they want regardless of facts.
3. Tripadvisor will not take down fraudulent reviews.
4. If a hotel owner requests the take down of a fraudulent review, they have to jump through hoops and provide "proof" that the review is fake (how on earth is this possible) and are threatened that there may be legal consequences when pursuing the take down of a fake review.
5. Tripadvisor allows fake reviews from people who blackmail hotels.
6. Tripadvisor will not accept any dissent, and will remove forum posts which challenge the review scam.
7. Tripadvisor will not allow hotel owners the same rights when giving a "management response" as the "reviewer" gets when leaving a fraudulent review. The management response isn't allowed to say that a review is fake.
See this thread for details: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g1-i12104-k2300549-Anti_Fake_Review_Ideas-Help_us_make_TripAdvisor_better.html <--- posts which were considered too honest were removed
I feel sorry for the poor travellers suckered into using that site. They're heading off on holiday with totally the wrong information in many cases.
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Und viele andere Beschwerden, Sorgen von Ferienwohnung Besitzern ueber Verleumdungen und Erpressungen auf www.fewo-direkt.de und www.homeaway.com usw. finden Sie hier
http://www.travelblog.org/Topics/12462-1.html
