TripAdvisor, a U.S.-based company that has become a popular source for travelers seeking allegedly unbiased reviews on travel destinations and accommodation, is in a controversy over fake review entries.
Fraudulent contributions have been made on the free travel guide and research website, misleading readers. Kwikchex, a U.K.-based reputation management company, which represents hundreds of hotels and restaurants, will be identifying those who are suspected to be illegitimate reviewers.
Cofounder of KwiChex, Chris Emmins, alleges that there is an increasing number of hoteliers joining the initiative since the potential for legal action against Expedia-owned TripAdvisor has been instigated.
The core matter at stake is that numerous hotels are being “seriously defamed,” according to Emmins, and previous attempts have not been successful so the current drastic action has been taken.
Another issue to be explored is how the rating system is being formulated, which will result in a particular ranking for a hotel within a city and the methodology that underlies an e-mail marketing campaign.
Kwikchex explains, “People who leave these anonymous reviews, which can damage the reputation of both businesses and individuals, need to realize that not only can they be sued for libel, but they can also face criminal prosecution.”
The list naming those who are suspected of being fraudulent will be connected to certain websites and there will be some form of notification. The onus will be on the person to validate their stay at particular premises, any failure to do so will result in legal action.
“With a court application for disclosure of all information held by the website publisher regarding the identity of the poster, in order for the business to be able to repair the damage done to its reputation,” he said in a statement.
There will be an amnesty of two weeks for those who may have made false claims to remove their entries from TripAdvisor, although the retraction itself will need to be properly documented.
An official statement from the company said, “TripAdvisor takes privacy protection very seriously and will not release, publish, or endorse any lists of the actual names of reviewers suspected of posting fraudulent reviews or otherwise, unless required by a court of law.”
Google was also a target earlier in the year about a fake review visible on its Google Maps website. There was a malicious review that was removed immediately after KwikChex verified the facts. Storm Photography of Colchester in the U.K. experienced a malicious review posted on Google maps in February and had not managed to have it deleted.
KwikChex sent an independent verification report to Google and the offending review in this case was removed 10 minutes later.
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