Hoteliers angry at 'malicious' TripAdvisor reviews

Australia's hotel industry has struck out at TripAdvisor, saying its hotel reviews were "malicious'', "bogus'' and "vexatious''.

Accommodation Association of Australia national operations manager Michael Georgeson said members were extremely frustrated with inappropriate reviews on the website.

"The Association regularly takes calls from frustrated operators commenting that malicious, bogus and vexatious reviews have been placed on TripAdvisor,'' he wrote on the AAA website.

"In a recent case presented to us, the site was used in a personal attack on a property manager via a review where the manager was accused of inebriation (amongst other complaints) whilst on duty.

"In this case, the property was able to identify that the reviewer was the disgruntled former partner of the manager.

"Despite having this fact pointed out to TripAdvisor, the site refused to remove the review.''

In another case, Ballina Beach Village Holiday Park on the NSW north coast said guests regularly try to extort money in return for positive online reviews.

"The possibility for abuse can mean that TripAdvisor has the strong potential to undermine a business and damage it quite substantially,'' Mr Georgeson said.

The AAA is conducting a survey of accommodation providers to assess the impact on operators.

It has also begun preliminary discussions with TripAdvisor and is looking at ways to provide more education on the subject.

In the meantime, Mr Georgeson recommended operators respond to reviews via the TripAdvisor website.

But he said feedback showed getting a response from the site operators was difficult and responses could be heavily moderated, with one member saying the final response allowed was almost pointless.

"It is here where there is a strong concern that the process is weighted against operators, with their responses more likely to be moderated than those of the reviewer,'' Mr Georgeson said.

TripAdvisor said it has sophisticated filtering systems and says the integrity of its content was fundamental to its success.




Source: News.com.au, 23 May 2012