When it comes to hotel reviews and travel advice on where to go to for vacation, TripAdvisor.com is perhaps one of the most popular websites to go to. Known for being able to assist customers in comparing different travel requirements such as room rates and hotel amenities, TripAdvisor contains mostly content generated by its users. Recently, TripAdvisor was involved in a controversy regarding the authenticity of the reviews posted on their website. Thousands of hotel and restaurant owners claimed that the reviews posted on TripAdvisor.com were unfair and defamatory. The controversy was followed by a documentary released by a local channel showing the effects of negative reviews on hotels, restaurants, and bed & breakfast inns, which only added fuel to the fire and instigated investigations of the hotel review website by different agencies including the Advertising Standards Agency. 

On The Receiving End of Fake Reviews

Business owners directly affected by fake reviews on TripAdvisor such as those who own hotels, restaurants, and B&B inns have definitely felt the negative impact of these reviews on these businesses. Having negative reviews is not actually a bad thing but negative reviews that are not actually true are a cause for concern. Internet defamation is not at all uncommon and more often than not, these fake reviews are posted as a means of ruining someone else’s credibility and reputation. Competing businesses have a hard time surviving as it is and some companies cannot help but give in to the pressure by resorting to dirty tactics in order to win customers over.

What TripAdvisor Can Do About It

Review websites such as TripAdvisor and Google Places simply cannot be held liable for any content, however defamatory, posted on their sites by their users. They are under the protection of the Communications Decency Act as 3^rd party re-publishers who cannot be held answerable for material posted on their site by users such as pictures and reviews. The website, however, responded by launching customer support lines which allow hotels that feel the truth has been stretched with regard to the reviews to report these to TripAdvisor. 

What You Can Do About It

If you are one of those businesses affected by fake reviews on TripAdvisor, you can contact them to let them know about your complaint. If you have proof that the review is completely false, the website can delete it. However, if TripAdvisor refuses to delete the review and you believe that you have due reason to pursue a case for defamation, you can file a lawsuit in court. Filing a lawsuit can help you obtain a court order to subpoena TripAdvisor in case you do not know who is behind the fake reviews. TripAdvisor will then be obliged to provide you with information that will help you find the identity of the fake review writer such as the email address associated with the person who left the review and IP address. If the court finds that the review is truly defamatory, TripAdvisor will also have no other choice but to follow the ruling and delete the false review from their website.