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There is an existing thread here on FT that debates this very issue.
Personally I do look at it, but am careful about reviews that have only a handful of reviews. I tend to balance what I read there with other sites. My primary site is FT. |
+1
TA is helpful, like FT, in part because of the sheer volume of information, but I still compare multiple sites. I am really skeptical when there is only one or a very few glowing reviews. It's like the reviews on Amazon - if there are only a few in a tight time frame, particularly if those reviewers have only one review - that looks like someone with a new entry called up friends to start things off. I also pay a lot of attention to actual guest photos and the content of comments. Sometimes a bad review doesn't affect me (I may not care about a pool or wi-fi, for example). I will also look at other reviews by the same reviewer - ideally, for someplace I'm familiar with, so I can judge how our tastes align. |
there is critical mass on there to provide fairly reliable information. the r value - correlation of my experience and their rating - is probably a solid 0.8 or so.
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My complaint about TA message boards in the censoring of comments on discussion forums, to strike pretty much any negative discussion about a destination, consistent with the OP's comment about
the priority being protecting the potential advertiser's interests. On several of the boards I frequent, any mention of crime, etc. is swept away at an alarming speedy rate. That said, some of the boards have incredibly helpful regulars who can provide excellent advice. I agree on the need to take a series of one time poster comments on hotels with a grain of salt. And I wish that some of the managers would calm down with their efforts to comment on every single review. Many of these sound like form letters and the defensive ones usually hurt more than they help. |
TA is extremely unreliable. There is a thread on the Hilton forum here about a hotel that walked 3 Diamond members, two of whom gave it 1* reviews. There suddenly appeared a huge influx of first-time reviewers posting 5* reviews for reasons like "the elevator worked" and "the room had a thermostat".
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Originally Posted by Mickidon
(Post 23630170)
My complaint about TA message boards in the censoring of comments on discussion forums, to strike pretty much any negative discussion about a destination, consistent with the OP's comment about
the priority being protecting the potential advertiser's interests. On several of the boards I frequent, any mention of crime, etc. is swept away at an alarming speedy rate. That said, some of the boards have incredibly helpful regulars who can provide excellent advice. |
Originally Posted by sethb
(Post 23630248)
TA is extremely unreliable. There is a thread on the Hilton forum here about a hotel that walked 3 Diamond members, two of whom gave it 1* reviews. There suddenly appeared a huge influx of first-time reviewers posting 5* reviews for reasons like "the elevator worked" and "the room had a thermostat".
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Thus far none of my reports have been struck (good or bad).
But I tend to give my reports in point format (Pros & Cons). Hence a balanced view is provided. As some FT posters have noted, what is important to some may not be as important to others. |
Originally Posted by rankourabu
(Post 23633274)
I would not be surprised if all the chains had teams of employees dedicated to this.
i would actually be very surprised if the big hotel chains had organized teams filing fraudulent reviews. The risk of discovery would far outweigh potential rewards. And like any social-platform review resource (Yelp, Angie's List, Skytrax, etc.) TripAdvisor is at least 50 percent nonsense. There's some useful stuff but the unmoderated approach really hurts; so do lingering suspicions that the playing field is knocked askew by fake rave reviews, negative ones being yanked, or sponsor influence. Yelp, though, is even more suspect in this regard -- with floods of reports of merchants/restauranteurs/etc. seeing positive ratings disappear unless they buy Yelp advertising. |
Originally Posted by BearX220
(Post 23633456)
Then they ought to be more adept than the silly-sounding new reviewers who popped up to proclaim this random Embassy Suites in a random corner of Oklahoma "the best hotel in the world."
i would actually be very surprised if the big hotel chains had organized teams filing fraudulent reviews. The risk of discovery would far outweigh potential rewards. And like any social-platform review resource (Yelp, Angie's List, Skytrax, etc.) TripAdvisor is at least 50 percent nonsense. There's some useful stuff but the unmoderated approach really hurts; so do lingering suspicions that the playing field is knocked askew by fake rave reviews, negative ones being yanked, or sponsor influence. Yelp, though, is even more suspect in this regard -- with floods of reports of merchants/restauranteurs/etc. seeing positive ratings disappear unless they buy Yelp advertising. |
Originally Posted by cheltzel
(Post 23634086)
I am curious why you say that about Yelp.
http://yelpcomplaints.wordpress.com/ http://www.techtimes.com/articles/12...ve-reviews.htm http://www.eater.com/2013/1/23/64915...ion-libel-more The plaintiffs and journalists involved with the story use the word "extortion." |
Originally Posted by BearX220
(Post 23634291)
Google is your friend.
http://yelpcomplaints.wordpress.com/ http://www.techtimes.com/articles/12...ve-reviews.htm http://www.eater.com/2013/1/23/64915...ion-libel-more The plaintiffs and journalists involved with the story use the word "extortion." From the BBB site on Yelp ... Government Actions The following describes a government action that has been resolved by either a settlement or a decision by a court or administrative agency. If the matter is being appealed, it will be noted below. On September 16, 2014 The Federal Trade Commission filed a stipulated order for permanent injunction and civil penalty judgment in Case3:14-cv-04163-JCS against Yelp, Inc. According to the injunction, it is alleged that Yelp, Inc. collected personal information from children under 13 years old in connection with operating their online service. The complaint further charges that Yelp violated the COPPA Rule by failing to provide notice to parents of its information practices, and to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children. Yelp has been ordered to pay a $450,000 civil penalty and is permanently restrained and enjoined from failing to make reasonable efforts to ensure that a parent of a child receives direct notice of its practices with regard to the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information from children, failing to post a prominent and clearly labeled link to an online notice of its information practices with regard to children, and failing to obtain verifiable parental consent before any collection, use, or disclosure of personal information from children, including any material change in the collection, use, or disclosure practices to which the parent has previously consented. - See more at: http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-franc....S7BEaGZi.dpuf |
Back to Trip Advisor - I generally find reading the latest reviews, the best reviews, and the worst reviews help best make a decision.
When traveling on business, I dined at the hotel bar several times for convenience until I finally had enough. Limited menu, mediocre food, and terrible service. When I looked on TA, it had 4 star reviews. What? How? Reading the newest reviews, most were not good. Then I started reading the best reviews they were talking about how great the steaks and service were. No steaks on any menu I saw. I looked at the dates and noticed these were from several years ago and about a totally different restaurant that use to be in the same hotel. I guess when they closed it and opened the sports bar, instead of starting a new restaurant, someone had the name changed. |
I agree. In fact, I felt the same way for quite some time now. TripAdvisor is now run by a group of people whose business model is strictly based on GREED, not the enrichment of traveling or even about traveling itself.
Trip Advisor is about deception and lies. They always have business interests first and they would use any tactics to intimidate, eliminate, and attack anyone who posts something that may hurt their advertisers, despite the fact that the posts are true and could benefit the travelers. Trip Advisor is not only unreliable, its toxic to your travel. |
Originally Posted by jetdreamer
(Post 23637655)
Trip Advisor is not only unreliable, its toxic to your travel. |
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