Of the 31 million reviews made on Tripadvisor during 2023, more than two million were removed or prevented from publication. Reviews often form the basis for awards of “the best of the year” within the tourism industry.
Large platforms such as Tripadvisor play an important role today when at least some travelers want to find out where they are going on their summer holiday.
– It has previously been pointed out that this type of website is the third most used tool for getting inspiration for travel. In a survey by Expedia, 71 percent of those asked answered that they get inspiration from social media, 60 percent ask family, friends and colleagues for advice, while 49 percent use websites such as Tripadvisor, reports Skift.com according to Standby.dk.
That the service is used by such a large audience places strict demands on the credibility of the reviews found on Tripadvisor. Therefore, the company behind the website has come to terms with the content, which does not reflect the truth.
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Public reviews of services within the tourism industry form the basis for choices by other travellers. Tripadviser promised last year to increase efforts against fake reviews – and two million such were discovered. Photo: AP Photo / Jenny Kane
Record number of fake reviews
Tripadvisor says in an announcement that the site has never before removed as many fake reviews as it did last year. This has been done with the help of new technology and a manual effort from the employees.
The two million deleted reviews correspond to 6.5 percent of the total number of reviews being assessed as problematic. At the same time, the importance of advances in the technology used in the field is highlighted.
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– Another completely new milestone was that four out of five of these reviews never managed to be published on our website. It underscores our commitment to ensuring the integrity and credibility of Tripadvisor reviews,” it said.
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Public reviews form the basis for honor and glory such as Traveler’s Choice – Traveller’s choice – at Tripadvisor. They inspire others to go to the same places and choose the same food, accommodation, drinks and the like – but the reviews must be correct, Tripadvisor believes. Photo: Diane Bondareff / AP Images for Tripadvisor
Gives a prize for mention
In recent years, an increase in the number of so-called incentive reviews has been registered. The term covers cases where the reviewer is enticed with, for example, discounts, free gifts or the like, if they express their opinion about a service on the Tripadvisor page.
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It’s against current policy, but according to Tripadvisor, these types of reviews made up 22 percent of the more than two million fake 2023 reviews that have now been deleted.
It is especially hotels and restaurants in Europe that use this method.
These accounted for 34.2 per cent of the total cases last year, while North America and Asia accounted for 27 per cent and 21.9 per cent respectively.
When actors are found to be providing incentives for visitors or employees to create fake reviews, they are contacted. In particularly severe cases, this may result in a warning being placed on the given business’s Tripadvisor page.
Tags: Tripadvisor Record number fake reviews
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