Who’s really writing the reviews on TripAdvisor?

This isn’t directly Niagara Falls-related, but it is still interesting. I’m sure some (or all) of the local operations use TripAdvisor and may try to cheat the system.

From The Times Online:

A row has broken out over the reliability of the hotel-review website TripAdvisor, with hoteliers alleging that the market-leading giant is no longer capable of policing its own content.

With 25m user-generated reviews and opinions on more than 490,000 hotels and attractions worldwide, and with more than 11m registered members, the Expedia-owned website has become a hugely powerful marketing tool, with many hotels admitting that the majority of their bookings come either directly or indirectly via the site.

But in the current grim economic climate, with businesses fighting harder than ever for a share of the dwindling market, a dirty war has broken out with hotels and restaurants using the site to attack rivals or boost their own ratings by posting fake reviews.

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