Comment: Reviewers cannot lurk in the shadows of anonymity
Often reviews can be posted anonymously, which opens the door to all sorts of abuse.
Travis Katz is CEO and founder of Gogobot, a website where reviews and advice are posted from people either in your social network or who you invite in.
He talks about the importance of transparency.
Let’s face it; while everyone loves to travel, planning a holiday can be painful. It’s hard enough deciding where to go and where to stay, let alone having to worry if the advice you read online is trustworthy. From a business perspective, people working in the travel industry are often finding themselves fighting fires when reviewers with an agenda post outlandish and inaccurate reviews. The result is that less of us trust what we are reading online.
Review sites were revolutionary when they first appeared on the scene – allowing users to get reviews and feedback from real travellers, as opposed to having to rely on a professional editor, to help them decide where to stay and what to do. However, there is an inherent and increasingly visible problem with the traditional review model – its susceptibility to fraud. Because the reviews may be posted anonymously, it opens the door for all sorts of abuse. Not only can a hotel owner create fake accounts to give their own property 5-star reviews, but a dismissed employee can write fake reviews saying there are rats in the kitchen, a competitor can sprinkle a site with disparaging remarks, or a guest that didn’t get their way can criticise a property for reasons that may or may not be fair or even under the owner’s control.
In the last few months we’ve seen companies called to account for promoting false, inaccurate and, in some cases, totally biased reviews as legitimate. What the industry needs to do now is ensure that such practices are stamped out and the process for providing feedback on a particular location becomes more transparent.
There’s a reason social networks are so popular and a lot of it has to do with the openness of what people engage with. If they decide to join a Facebook fan page, they know if it is official. If they choose to follow a celebrity on Twitter, the account can be verified. The lesson for the travel industry is that it also needs that level of transparency.
To do this, we need to help holidaymakers get trusted advice and present it to them in a form which is totally accountable in terms of knowing its source. By creating open online communities, people can choose who they want to follow, and ensure they get advice from people they know rather than anonymous strangers. By doing so, we increase the likelihood of travellers finding balanced, honest, and trustworthy information, and the effect of fraud will be greatly dampened. All of which will help relieve the pain and anxiety that can sometimes blot the process of arranging a holiday.
Diane
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