How Tripadvisor Handles Fake Reviews

Irish hotel told staff to fake TripAdvisor reviews
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/irish-hotel-told-staff-to-fake-tripadvisor-reviews-14991108.html

An Irish hotel has been cautioned by global internet travel service TripAdvisor for posting fake reviews to boost its ratings.

...Any hotel caught posting a fake review, which is in violation of the 2009 EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, is given a "red badge" warning.

A TripAdvisor spokeswoman said the [hotel] would not be removed from its site and insisted the warning was a "better punishment".

"We have reasonable cause to believe the [hotel] has engaged in suspect fake reviews on TripAdvisor," she said. "Subsequently, a red badge has been applied to the Clare Inn pages on the site, warning all potential guests of the suspected activity.

The Tripadvisor warning says:

Message from TripAdvisor: TripAdvisor has reasonable cause to believe that individuals or entities associated with or having an interest in this property may have interfered with traveler reviews and/or the popularity index for this property. We make our best efforts to identify suspicious content and are always working to improve the processes we use to assess traveler reviews.

You can search Tripadvisor for pages that have this warning by clicking here.