HOLIDAYMAKERS were warned to not rely on online reviews for their next trip. Some hotels have been accused of falsifying public feedback.
In an effort to improve their ratings, companies have been flooding review boards with positive comments.
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Iowa State University Research Recent years have seen an increase in the number of fake hotel reviews, especially at higher-end hotels.
Numerous studies had previously suggested that nearly 30% of TripAdvisor reviews were fake.
This number is however on the rise as hotels compete with property-sharing sites like AirBnb or Vrbo.
The study found that hotels are using fake reviews to market their products in an effort to counter the decline of the holiday home industry.
Posh hotels are the main culprit for increasing fakes, as they flood their reviews pages with positive comments.
The good news is that those of us who are unable to afford 5-star hotels can still enjoy a comfortable stay in a budget hotel. Research also found that there were fewer fake reviews.
This may be because those who book hotels at a lower price are less likely to listen to other opinions and are more interested in the prices.
Also, reviews and feedback from cheaper hotels can be considered more authentic than those for resorts that are more expensive.
Cheng Nie, one the researchers who participated in the study, told The NZ Herald: “A lot of people who stay at low-end hotels are less likely to pay attention to reviews compared to people trying to decide if a $500 (£433) resort is worth their money.”
Some websites are more reliable than others when it comes to feedback.
TripAdvisor, for example, allows anyone to leave a review about a hotel even if there is no proof they ever stayed there.
Expedia allows customers to leave feedback only if they have booked a room at an accommodation.
Hotels could still pay for their rooms and leave reviews on that website, but researchers said that this was not possible. “less likely”To happen.
To get an idea of what the site is like, they recommend comparing reviews from both sites. “level of review manipulation”.
Nie stated that: “We have demonstrated the evidence, that if there is more Airbnb listings around high-end hotel properties, these hotels tend to self-promote by posting fake positive ratings.”
“Consumers need to be careful because the reviews, especially on Tripadvisor, may be inflated and not be truly representative of the quality.”
Sun Online Travel reached out to TripAdvisor with a comment.
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