TripAdvisor is probably one of the most high-profile, manipulated sites on the planet. Why? Because TripAdvisor pretty much lets anyone say anything about anyone with ZERO accountability. And although John Q Public isn't aware of this, restaurant/hotel owners and others in the travel biz, ARE. Unfortunately, since
TripAdvisor has done a bang-up marketing job promoting themselves as pretty much the Bible on travel info, and like I said, John Q Public believes it, the folks in the travel biz feel they have to play the TripAdvisor game... and unless said restaurants/hotels and travel services are well established, reputable or just plain BIG- most do. Make no mistake, there's a severe risk when you get in bed with TripAdvisor and this quote pretty much sums it up: Live by the sword - die by the sword.
As the above example indicates, it's really quite simple. Anyone can post a positive or negative review about any restaurant, hotel etc, without so much as ever stepping foot in said establishment. Hotel and restaurant owners know this. So they manipulate. They have people (usually friends and family) write positive reviews for them and/or negative reviews for the competition. The outcome over time is obvious, it's an absolute FREE FRAWL for rankings since TripAdvisor does almost nothing to stop it. Therefore thousands of reviews are bogus. TripAdvisor says fraud is minimal. I beg to differ.
Here's our video about TripAdvisor- the Evil Empire.
