Tripadvisor Defends Anti-Fraud Measures amid Italian Probe

TripAdvisor has defended its integrity in the wake of a probe by Italy’s antitrust watchdog into allegedly fake reviews posted on the holiday website, saying it was confident in its anti-fraud detecti

 

 

The Italian competition authority is examining whether the Massachusetts-based business, which hosts 150m reviews by the public about the quality of hotels, restaurants and attractions, includes some comments by people who never actually visit the premises being reviewed.

 

It is also questioning whether TripAdvisor is distinguishing between independent reviews and profiles paid for by hotels and restaurants.

 

The probe was launched after the Rome-based antitrust authority received numerous reports by customers, owners of restaurants and hotels as well as a national consumer association.

 

TripAdvisor, which makes its revenues from click-based and display advertising and subscriptions, has faced a number of claims from around the world about fake reviews over recent years.

 

In 2012, the UK Advertising Standards Authority ruled it could no longer claim to say all its reviews were genuine.

 

The company said it would not comment on pending investigations, but added: “With respect to the reviews displayed on the site, as we have stated before, it is important to note that TripAdvisor fights fraud aggressively and we are confident in our systems and process.”

 

TripAdvisor said each review was tracked through algorithms to detect patterns of activity, while a team of more than 200 investigated suspicious reviews. There were penalties to deter fraud and mistakes were corrected quickly.

 

“Unfortunately every major service industry has to confront the challenge of fraud, but ultimately, if people didn’t find the reviews on our site helpful and accurate they wouldn’t keep coming back,” said TripAdvisor.

 

The Italian watchdog has also launched a probe into the agreements made between Expedia and rival travel website Booking.com and hotels, questioning whether clauses prevent hotels from getting better deals through other booking websites.

 

Expedia said it believed it was acting in compliance with the law. Priceline Group, which owns Booking.com, declined to comment.

 

Federalberghi, the Italian hotel association, expressed support for the investigations, saying it hoped the results would “shed light on the contradiction of the internet, which allows interested subjects to influence choices by consumers”.

 

It said it opposed the possibility of posting anonymous comments which “pollute the market and damage consumers”.

 

Founded in 1999, TripAdvisor became an independent public company in 2011 when it split from Expedia. A fifth of its stock is owned by John Malone’s Liberty Interactive, which has half the voting rights.

 

Its first-quarter results showed a 22 per cent rise in year-on-year revenues to $281m, and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $122m, up 12 per cent year on the same period last year.

 

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