Fighting talk from TripAdvisor as it launches a direct attack on Kwikchex in probably its strongest statement to date around its perceived light-touch stance over alleged fake reviews.
UK-based Kwikchex has attempted to be a thorn in the side of the user review giant ever since launching what it claimed would be a legal action against TripAdvisor in the summer of 2010.
However, more than 18 months since the battle between the two commenced and with TripAdvisor until now defending its position in general terms, it has reacted angrily to recent moves by Kwikchex.
According to TripAdvisor, the reputation management firm has its own “clear commercial interests in undermining confidence in open user-generated platforms.”
It goes on to say:
“It therefore comes as no surprise that the criteria set out entirely favours the company publishing it and the related services the company provides. “
The statement comes in response to latest moves from Kwikchex to introduce a scheme to rate review sites. The company says it is also making a submission to the Securities & Exchange Commission raising concerns over TripAdvisor’s ability to authenticate reviews.
While in the past TripAdvisor has defended itself and its processes against allegations of fake reviews, this appears to be the first time it has directly slated Kwikchex.
The statement reiterates its ongoing stance by saying:
“The integrity of the content on our sites is our number one priority, and we completely stand by our independently endorsed review integrity processes.”
“If consumers didn’t feel that the information they see on the site is an accurate reflection of their actual experience, they wouldn’t keep coming back. We expend significant efforts with respect to manual and electronic fraud detection in order to maintain the quality and authenticity of user reviews.”
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About Linda Fox
No wonder, i’m not the least surprised. reviewers reviewing reviewers is a daft concept.
Robert-couldn’t agree more. If the public think they are being scammed let them walk away from such sites.
The public may not be aware of the implications of methodolgy. Kwikchex is not assuming any sort of expertise – it is laying out a transparent and objective criterion by which to measure the efficacy of a review site.
The public can definitely judge for itself as far as the objective nature of the criteria is concerned. I do believe that a review from someone who has stayed at a hotel is greater than a fake review from an interested party – positive or negative.
If I can go on TripAdvisor and sign up as an owner of the very hotels that I compete with, and stay on as an owner for months / years without anyone catching me, then I am hard pressed to believe that the quality of reviews is any better. I was also offered, in fairly straight forward terms, the ability to put positive reviews for my own hotels by varying IPs, as well as negative reviews for my competition again by different IP addresses, by an outfit out of India.
Tripadvisor in the future will need to start to address how they verify reviews, but not because of what Kwikchex or Hotel owners say. The reason will be how the “social” community reacts to Tripadvisor. In my “social” communities I weigh reviews written by my family, friends, associates, etc much greater than I do with ones written by users with generic user names, and/or only 1 or two postings.
Every system can be “gamed” but the majority of users aren’t taking time to do this. As we see Expedia, Travelocity, and so forth getting in the user review game, they get a leg up based on that reviews are only from verified travelers.
In the end I do not need Kwikchex to tell “rate” review sites, I can pretty quickly figure them out. I also can figure out pretty quickly that well run Hotel, B&B, etc have good reviews no matter what the site, while the others that continue to complain really need to take an internal look at their operation to see what the true reason is for their negative reviews.
Sure, Brain, pretty good common senes stuff.
Only prob is, i don’t go the same places my friends and family go, we all have different tastes.
Look, Trip Advisor isn’t going away any time soon. 10 years time and we’ll all still be talking about it.
This whole discussion is becoming more like a project for a Ph D than ever likely to be nearing a commercial, common sense solution to the review debate.
Everything that is happening in the world, today, aided by social media, is to actually cause disparity rather than convergence of view. Now everyone has an opinion about everything, its almost like an ego thing. Also people are being increasingly anti social, again encouraged by social media and devices. rather than talk to the hotelier, i know people that hide behind a Facebook page and slate the hotel for the whole world to see. I’ve lost count of my client hoteliers (180 and rising) who tell me ‘if only they had told us when they were here and given us a chance to assist/do something about it &c &c’ – - but no they don’t.
We’re really a pretty shady, grubby, wimpish lot, i guess + the loss of social skills tho’is a huge potential problem, especially amongst the young for which social media is becoming a complete obsession for many.
Totally agree with you, Robert. It happens all the time – Clients behind the internet wall are more self confident, it seens, yelling for everybody from their notebooks what they didn`t like at their stay. Sometimes we receive such type of opinion that are totally nonsense – and so you have lots of 4 and 5 stars opinions damaged by a crazy 1 star review. Yes, it happens a lot.
Does anybody has any suggestion in what can we do to listen to them “in time”? In other words, Can we hear them before they go to the next desktop, trying to make their opinion the final truth? Well, in our Hotel we have a paper form asking them to give it. Any more ideas? Thanks!
You should watch: http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/24/6123639-some-resorts-promise-more-than-they-deliver
I would make 2 points about Trip Advisors statement:
1-Consumers don’t keep going back to Trip Advisor because they trust the integrity of the reviews. Consumers return to Trip Advisor because they trust themselves to distinguish the phony review from the genuine one.
2-Even casual observation of how Trip Advisor operates clearly shows that their claim that the integrity of the content is the highest priority is false. Their highest priority is profit. Whether the amount of effort they “expend…with respect to manual and electronic fraud detection,” is “significant” is debatable. That they spend as little as they think they can get away with is obvious.
Kwikchex criteria for reliability seem pretty reasonable to me, but reliability of content is not the only criteria for a review site. The amount of content is also important. It does not help me that all the reviews are genuine if the place I am interested in is not reviewed. Enforcing reliability criteria inhibits growth—or at least makes growth more costly
Disclosure 1: I am the CEO & Founder of a company that owns and operates 2 wilderness lodges that are at Trip Advisor’s tender mercies.
Disclosure 2: We are in the process of developing a Facebook App designed to provide traveler feedback about services for the upscale experiential travel niche.
Totally agree re the profit point Michael
Linda I’m just curious where and at the occasion of what Tripadvisor made these statements….
Thanks Guido – TripAdvisor made the comments in a statement to Tnooz following this story late last week http://www.tnooz.com/2012/04/27/news/war-on-fake-travel-content-intensifies-now-it-is-time-rate-the-hotel-review-sites/
I totally back trip advisor.I am currently dealing with this company Kwickchex over a compensation matter.
I have never come across a more useless shower of people in all my life. I would not recommend their services to my worst enemy. I really hope Trip Advisor take them out in the courts. Good luck Trip Advisor do us all a favour.
Royston,
TripAdvisor is flawed it is as simple as that. Their claim that the reviews on their site are genuine cannot be supported with any evidence.
They stand back from their responsibility as a ‘publisher’ by citing that the reviews are user content in every country apart from the US this is not a defence. That is why the EU is looking at banning them unless they can show a more robust regulatory process.
Fundamentally, this site permits abuse and provides those wishing to do harm a means to cause harm. That is illegal and immoral from any stand point.
I could sign up with them today and post a fake review on their site and the property owner only has the ability to respond within the strict criteria that TripAdvisor permits. This means that if a property owner truly believes that the review is fake and contains lies he is unable by TripAdvisor’s own terms and conditions to say this but the anonymous reviewer can say what they like. This inconsistent self-regulation is unacceptable and will facilitate action against them.
TripAdvisor is not a responsible publisher of reviews and opinions and cannot hide behind a law in the US that enables them to put at jeopardy businesses in other countries.
They must validate user content and offer equal weight for reviewer and reviewee as a foundation of doing business internationally or face the prospect of severe financial consequences that may have their LLC veil lifted and personal claims of damages being targeted at senior managers.
James I don’t agree. If you are in the hospitality industry, reviews go with the territory. If you are running a slick operation your good customers will rate you accordingly and the bad or fake reviews will pale into insignificance. When I am in a new country I always consult trip advisor on restaurants and hotels. I have to say by going with the best reviews on trip advisor I have never been let down.
What has trip advisor done on you. Have you been running an operation and had a few bad/fake reviews and are now throwing your toys out of the pram? If this is the case get off your arse and do something about it eg create such a good experience for your customers that you only get top reviews. Why is there a number one hotel or restaurant rated on trip advisor they must have all got bad reviews as well. Get real. The cream will always rise to the top and that is why we need review sites such as trip advisor that anyone can leave experiences good or bad.
You do have a right to reply as an owner of the business on any review left concerning your business and can also report the reviewer to trip advisor so what is the problem?
My original point concerned my opinion on Kwickchex. I know the ratings they would get if the public could review them.
In a nut shell keep up the good work Trip Advisor. The best review site on the net.
Trip Advisor is part of Expedia. Conflict of interest. Advertisers receive preferential treatment.
If you believe their reviews you are the FOOL.
@jim – just a quick point of clarification there. TripAdvisor was spun-off from Expedia and IPOed as an independent company in December 2011.
About four years ago I stayed in a hotel in London that was so filthy I needed medical treatment when I got home. IF I had visited trip-advisor beforehand I would never had stayed there and saved myself an infected bug bite. The reviews I saw on there when I cecked it out later were entirely accurate! Although it’s hard to have perspective when you have had your holiday ruined by a bad experience, it is hard to dispute the users photographs of mould etc. If a hotel has a large number of bad reviews, it’s probably not because of “petty” visitors. More likely there is something fundamentally wrong there and the management, instead of being coddled by companies on the make like Kwikchex, should take a long, hard look at their hotel, b&b etc, staff etc and try to improve things. These are usually businesses that have been plodding along providing the same standard of service year in, year out, not realising that peoples expectations have changed over the last 30 years. There was a time when people were happy to stay in a room with a washbasin in the corner and a shared bathroom down the hall. That day has long passed. If a business is doing all it possibly can to be professional and accomodate it’s customers needs and expectations and keep them happy then they would only get good reviews. My mantra in customer service has always been “a happy customer tells nobody, an unhappy customer tells everybody! Keep your customers happy or perish….