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Travel Websites Clamp Down on False Reviews
Coming out of the Reuters Hotels and Casinos conference last week, travel websites, such as Priceline.com and Expedia TripAdviser, are reinforcing their efforts to cut down on fake online consumer reviews of hotels, which could undermine the reputation of the websites, as well as stall what is perceived as a significant growth area.
User reviews have become a method for many websites to offer apparently unbiased opinions at a minimal to low cost. However, an issue that continually arises is the authenticity of the opinions. To combat fraud and raise user confidence, companies use different strategies to gauge authenticity. Priceline.com only permits user opinions to be posted when they have a record of that user staying at that hotel. Expedia’s TripAdviser sends each user review to a fraud detection specialist for analysis before posting.
The concerns of the companies are directed more to hotels that try and abuse the system, rather than individual users. On that point, Rob Solomon, CEO of SideStep, notes that over time “the community starts policing itself” and identification of fake reviews becomes a minor concern.
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