Could a new Twitter campaign weed out fake reviews on TripAdvisor?

tripadvisor_phone

TripAdvisor quickly became one of the most useful websites, and subsequently the most useful apps, to have been developed in recent times. But it also has a dark side. Like any site that allows users to leave reviews, TripAdvisor suffers with the problem of fakes. A new Twitter campaign hopes to help cut down the number of fraudulent reviews.

Fake reviews are not a problem that is specific to TripAdvisor -- Amazon has gone as far as suing people it believes to be fabricating reviews -- but a group of people have joined forces to try to do something about it. Concerned that there are a huge number of reviews written by people who have not actually visited the establishment they are reviewing, the #noreceiptnoreview campaign proposes that people should only be permitted to share their reviews upon the production of receipt.

It's a campaign that has the backing of diners, writers, and restaurant critics, as well as those who run hotels and restaurants. It is a bid to stem the tide of maliciously negative reviews that may be posted by rival businesses or people with an axe to grind. Of course, it would not be a complete solution to the problem; there would be nothing to stop someone from eating at a restaurant to obtain a receipt, and then writing a deliberating scathing review.

But supporters say that it is a start. One of the backers is Jay Rayner -- food writer for the Observer -- who says:

TripAdvisor have admitted they have a problem with fake reviews, and if you have a business model that functions on trust, then you need to do something to protect that. At the moment I only use TripAdvisor to get a list of places in a particular town I'm going to -- I ignore the rankings.

There have been suggestions that TripAdvisor should introduce a user verification system similar to that used by Twitter and Facebook, but this would potentially mean that reviewer would feel less inclined to speak their mind. The idea of requiring a scanned receipt before posting a review is not a perfect solution -- and there are many ways to play the system -- but it could be a step in the right direction.

Speaking to the Guardian, a TripAdvisor spokesperson said the company was not keen on the idea -- but that's not necessarily the point. The point is that people are talking about the problem and trying to come up with a possible solution; that's something that should benefit everyone.

Photo credit: Bloomua / Shutterstock.com

7 Responses to Could a new Twitter campaign weed out fake reviews on TripAdvisor?

© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.