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February 1st, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
By
Sean Poulter
Last updated at 8:19 AM on 1st February 2012
TripAdvisor can no longer claim to offer ‘trusted and honest’ reviews, the advertising watchdog has ruled.
It said that because the world’s biggest travel website does not vet its 50 million users’ comments, it cannot guarantee they are genuine.
The site promises to provide reliable reviews from travellers about hotels, restaurants and airlines around the world.
The site which offers recommendations for hotels has been targeted with fake reviews
However, it has faced claims that some establishments are being given poor write-ups by rivals to boost their own trade.
Malicious customers have even tried to blackmail small hotels with threats to post negative reviews.
The Advertising Standards Authority began an investigation following a complaint from British firm KwikChex, which represents several hotels given poor reviews on TripAdvisor, plus two unnamed British hotels.
The ASA was asked to rule on claims made by TripAdvisor about the services it offers, including: ‘TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travellers’ and ‘50million honest travel reviews and opinions from real travellers’.
In reality, TripAdvisor does not check the accuracy of its reviews although it does offer hoteliers a right of reply. Instead, it asks the reviewer only to ensure what they have written is a genuine opinion and say they do not have a personal link to the hotel or service.
However, in a ruling today the ASA said: ‘We understood that reviews could be placed on the site without any form of verification, and while TripAdvisor took steps to monitor suspicious activity, it was possible non-genuine content would appear on the site.
‘We did not consider consumers would necessarily be able to detect and separate non-genuine reviews from genuine content.
‘Because we considered the claims implied that consumers could be assured all review content was genuine, we concluded that the claims were misleading.’
Many hotels are in jeopardy of seeing their name tarnished by false ratings from rival businesses
It has told TripAdvisor to make changes to the way it markets its services in the UK.
A spokesman for TripAdvisor said: ‘We have confidence the 50million users who come to our site every month trust the reviews they read, which is why they keep coming back.’
But Chris Emmins, of KwikChex, said: ‘A number are false – both positive and negative reviews.
‘Small businesses suffer most as they tend to have few reviews and so the impact is greater, although any business with a bad review does suffer, particularly if it is a false accusation of something such as food poisoning or bed bugs.’
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Much better travel and accommodation guides are available. The one we use is Holiday Truths co uk. You have to register and that means you have to have an email address so you can be traced. The people doing the reviews are real and as far as we have found out quite genuine. The forums are really informative and there are guides about hotels, flats, self catering, excursions and other useful stuff.
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– sandy, outer space – thank God!, 01/2/2012 14:48
Don’t tar all small independents with the same brush. Some are very different and pride themselves on giving a good service. I have received appalling service in more than one 4star chain hotel yet good personal service in small independents. A rating by Qaulity in Tourism is worth looking for as it will have been done with an anonymous visit and the criteria is pretty strict.
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Most views shown on TA are posters own opinions……… so you would expect good and bad.
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I booked somewhere last year and when I looked on trip advisor before leaving I was horrified. All the way there I was dreading getting there and having to move hotels, yet it was actually lovely, I couldn’t have had a nicer time. So now I don’t really use it anymore becuase it isn’t at all accurate.
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I was staying in a clean, well-run, friendly BB in Wales last summer when a couple arrived to check in. They were blatant in their intention – to use the phrase “We will be writing a review for Tripadvisor” to treat the staff like slaves and demand a level of service well above that usually expected at a small family-run rural BB. I was horrified by their behaviour and their implied threats/blackmail, and have never used Tripadvisor since.
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When I did a short break to Marrakech last year I did a half day excursion and when I got back home I did a review of the excursion on TA and then I got bombarded with calls from the excursion man begging me to change my review because people had read the review and were altering there booking.
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For a start TA advise you NOT to disclose your real name. That in itself means there is no check on the reviewer. There is a lady who has been doing b and b in our small village very successfully for the best part of 20 years. She has 3 reviews. We have a professional couple, well spoken, who have now opened up part of their house for b and b. In no time at all he had ten reviews – all top ratings. There is not one spelling mistake in his reviews which read more like advertisements. The reviews read in the parlance that the man speaks. I am positive he writes them himself. If he reads this he will recognise himself. He has had umpteen jobs now. I think the small establishments and restaurants are far more likely to suffer as a result of fake and spiteful reviews.
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It is good to read these reviews with an open mind. You can generally tell if someone has an axe to grind. I know from experience that you can’t please some people no matter what you do – some people like to stir trouble for their own purposes.
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I booked into a London hotel based on a Tripadvisor recommendation, which showed a lovely clean building and advertised excellent services. I did not recognise the grubby exterior when I got there, nor the aggressive response I got from the owner when I asked for a meal (which his wife cooked in their less than clean kitchen). I needed a taxi the next morning (free taxi to Heathrow advertised on hotel site) and arranged with owner that he would call one for me. I got up at 5 to get the taxi, and the owner charged out of his room in his underwear demanding why I was wandering around his hotel in the middle of the night. He had not ordered me a taxi, but grudgingly offered to take me himself. Just before we got to Heathrow, he stopped his car and demanded £30 for the short journey. I will never trust any hotel again that doesnt belong to a chain
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I agree with those who state that it works both ways. When I posted a bad review for an establishment, within hours there were four or five excellent reviews countering everything I had said. You just have to use your common sense. While I often post 5-star reviews, it is because the places we have stayed deserved them. But, the bottom line is to question the overly gushing, personal, and effusive posts of one-time only reviewers. A business recently complained that their business was ruined, even though most of their reviews are excellent. I think that is likely to show that the positive reviews were not genuine, but written by friends and family.
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