But now the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has launched an investigation into the popular review website, following growing criticism of its apparent failure to monitor fake comments posted online. (ASA is the UK's independent regulator of advertising across all media)
The formal inquiry was opened after a complaint that 'abuse, flaws and distortion' on the TripAdvisor website had reached 'epidemic levels'.
As many as five million of the most current reviews on the website could be fake, according to Chris Emmins, co-founder of online reputation management company KwikChex.com.
After spending eight months looking into TripAdvisor, Mr Emmins found that half of the 50 million reviews posted are more than a year old, making them out of date. And of the 25 million left, up to 20 per cent of them could be bogus, he believes.
His company complained to the ASA after receiving more than 2,000 requests from desperate businesses in the hospitality industry suffering from review fraud, mainly on TripAdvisor.
'It is the smaller businesses that suffer the most,' Mr Emmins told TravelMail. 'Most can't defend themselves against these negative, and often defamatory, reviews. Lawyers' fees mount up and it is incredibly difficult to sue TripAdvisor. These small hotels and restaurants don't get a lot of reviews, so if they have two or three bad comments, which can sometimes be part of a coordinated attack, it absolutely decimates their business. I have had two or three companies coming to me saying they have had to close as a result and another owner was on medication to cope with the stress.'
Travel experts have long complained that hotel owners can manipulate their ranking on the website by posting fake glowing reviews or offering incentives for guests to write good comments. Caroline Blake, consultant editor of the Good Hotel Guide, claimed on her blog that she had tested TripAdvisor by posting fake reviews, which appeared on the site immediately. She said: 'It is despicable that people who haven't even stayed at hotels can wax lyrical about them to improve bookings.'
Hotels are also reporting increasing incidents of competitors or rogue 'reviewers' posting negative comments to discredit their rivals online. Mr Emmins points out an example of a group who stayed at a hotel for a wedding. Due to disruptive behaviour the police were called. In an act of malice, the eight guests all went online to post negative reviews on the hotel in question, sending its ranking plummeting.
With so much business riding on website reviews, underhand agencies have also been set up to cash in on the market, offering to post hundreds of positive comments on websites like TripAdvisor in return for a fee, in some cases thousands of pounds.
The ASA investigation will focus on TripAdvisor's claim that it contains 'honest travel reviews and opinions from real travellers around the world.' KwikChex alleges that TripAdvisor does not authenticate reviews or verify users as a matter of course. It also claims that the website refuses to remove fraudulent reviews, even when it has been proven they claim false accusations.
Under the ASA's Committee of Advertising Practice - or CAP code - companies are not allowed to use 'unverifiable' testimonials on their promotional material. Yet TripAdvisor allegedly encourages businesses to use quotes from its website on their own sites or in their brochures, despite not knowing where they come from. KwikChex believes this apparent breach of the ASA code could force TripAdvisor to verify where it gets its positive comments from and, in turn, who is posting the unduly negative reviews.
The ASA has confirmed an investigation is underway, and told TravelMail: 'This follows a complaint by KwikChex Ltd who challenged whether claims by TripAdvisor on their website, that user reviews were genuine and could be trusted, were misleading and could be substantiated.'
TripAdvisor will be asked to respond to the allegations and provide evidence to support its own position. When contacted about the investigation by TravelMail, a spokesperson issued a statement saying: 'TripAdvisor does not comment on current or potential regulatory investigations or litigation.'
However, the company claims to take the authenticity of its reviews 'very seriously' and says it has 'numerous methods' in place to ensure the legitimacy of comments 'including automated site tools, a team of review integrity experts, and our large and passionate community of millions of travellers that help us identify suspicious content.'
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