TripAdvisor fined by Italian watchdog
TripAdvisor is considering filing an appeal against a €500,000 fine from competition authorities in Italy.
Italy’s competition watchdog, the ICA, issued the fine against the review site after a seven-month investigation following a complaint from hotel owners and a consumer group.
The ICA has accused TripAdvisor of publishing misleading information about the sources of its reviews.
But a TripAdvisor statement said the decision was wrong.
"From our initial review of the document, we think the ruling is unreasonable, strongly disagree with its findings and will file an appeal," it said.
"We firmly believe that TripAdvisor is a force for good – both for consumers and the hospitality industry."
TripAdvisor said it fights fraud aggressively and is ‘very confident’ in the systems and processes in place.
"From our initial review we believe that the ICA’s recommendations are unwarranted and out of touch with commercial realities, not just of a user-generated content business, but of any company in any sector," the statement added.
It said the ICA’s zero tolerance standard meant it would have ruled against TripAdvisor even if just one review out of millions was found to be questionable.
This is not a realistic standard for any business model, it added.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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