I agree that TA seems to have really taken over certain markets. We were in Dubrovnik this summer and it seemed like every shop and restaurant had some sort of "Trip Advisor recommended" sticker and were hoping you would write a review for them after eating there. TA's marketing must have really decided to target the town heavily.

I check other booking sites where available when using TA. Used them and found some really great places, but it is starting to feel a bit false.

C'mon, TA reviews are as honest as international figure skating judging. :D

FWIW I read TA reviews with a critical and jaundiced eye and have been happy with the choices I've made far more often than not. In fact only twice in 8 years have I really been truly disappointed with the hotel I booked after checking TA which considering that's probably 100+ hotels isn't a bad average.

Not saying it's perfect or completely without biases just one tool in the travel toolbox I use.

I've noticed a lot of TA (and to some extent Yelp) reviews are driven by price. So you need to filter out the obviously fraudulent reviews and then filter out the ones that go nuts about how great a value the place is or how large the servings are.

I use TA but the ranking system is an utter farce. Apparently they consulted my six year old for help with the math and left it at that.

Actually, to me, a rude front desk or forgotten wake up calls can be the sign of an inattentive management, so I would take heed. Everyone has his/her own travel hot buttons and the sheer volume of reviews on TA can be helpful at seeing the types of problems that might be encountered. If a particular review intrigues me, I might look up the poster's reviews of other properties to see if there are any relevant points of reference. And I pretty much never read the reviews of people posting for the first time.

You and me both about never reading the reviews of one-post-wonders as I call them. But the problem is, most people going to TA don't even think about that. They read it online, they believe it. End of story.

I use TA mostly for the forums. But the hotel and attraction rankings are pretty much irrelevant to me. I know they are way too skewed. I prefer to do my own research as to what there is to do in a city, etc. I don't go to TA for deciding which hotel to stay at. I rarely give hotel reviews anymore to TA. I just don't believe in their system.

As others have said, the rankings are so inaccurate compared to what they should be for many activities, restaurants, hotels, etc.

Remember TA is a for-profit business. Their goal is to make money. The more reviews (accurate or not), the more they can advertise how many reviews they have, the more hits they get from travelers and the more they can charge advertisers.

I for one take reviews on TA with a pinch of salt

I know for a fact that certain businesses on TA are somehow able to get bad reviews deleted
I am in discussion with TA on this subject but they state they cant reveal why posts are removed even though I have furnished them with information of the posts and the posters involved [with their permission ]
IMHO it is time for a thorough investigation into the running of TA

For discussion, here is a restaurant that served one of my most disappointing meals of the year, yet every recent review seems like it was written by one of those blurbsters who used to get paid to write fake movie review quotes, "Greatest adventure ever!", "Gravity is the bomb!", etc, etc

I don't know if they are fake or not, but the pattern of reviews and the language used seem highly suspicious to me. Wondering what others think

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...n_England.html

lance, I can't seem that much that would appear to be fake on those reviews - sure, overly "excited" reviews might sound like fake, but it looks more like a relatively fancy restaurant that seems to be enjoyed by some group of clientel.

The reports read quite similar to a place I've visited last week:

http://www.tripadvisor.de/Restaurant...al_Poland.html

And boy, I did enjoy the food there. For restaurant reviews (more than for hotel reviews) it's entirely possible to have a really huge chunk of "great food, great place" reviews...

So far, TA has never failed me on Restaurants completely (ie, advertising good food meant good food, advertising value-for-money meant exactly that, etc.)

TA, just like any other sides, should be read with scrutiny.

I'm not saying all TA reviews are false, but some "phantom" like reviews are quite easy to spot.

Expand your net of research is always the best option

Thanks, it could very well just be me. I tend to be suspicious of reviews that are high on superlatives and sparse on details.

By the way, the reviews for your restaurant above seem more authentic to me.

Keep in mind that the more "touristic" the place might be, the more reviews from foreigners (who are using TA to actually get to the place) will show up, and some of them will be writting in English rather than their native mother languages, which means less details, and more superlatives.

Good point. With respect to London, I usually find in general that the locals are more critical in their reviews.

Regarding CUT at Park Lane, one of the reviews "Absolutely mind blowing", the reviewer has 15 other restaurant reviews for London and the satisfaction level ranges from poor to mind blowing, so I would think it pretty genuine.