Bogus Reviews Sometimes Part of Hotel Marketing Tactics
February 16, 2007. Savy vacationers, including those shopping for luxury vacation rentals, have learned to be skeptical of online reviews for lodging. Reuters broke some good news yesterday for travelers who plan their trips online. Travel websites, such as Priceline.com and Expedia.com, are getting tougher on fake online reviews for hotels.
Every Internet user, at some point, has probably worried about the authenticity of a user-generated online review for a hotel, restaurant or merchandise. After all, anyone can post this content.
Reuters quoted Priceline.com's chief executive, Jeff Boyd, from a speech this week at the Reuters Hotels and Casinos 2007 Summit in Los Angeles:
"We have certainly seen instances with other properties where insiders have put reviews up for a particular hotel or a particular thing and it's not a legitimate review… It's somebody who's in effect been paid to make the property look good."
Although we sometimes find user reviews helpful, we do urge consumers not to base their entire decision upon one or two positive entries. When booking accommodations online, try to find photos of the interior and exterior of the property, and verify the property's location with an online mapping service.
VacationRental.org offers luxury vacation rentals that meet strict criteria for inclusion on our website. We always include Google maps of the locations, and most of our listings have links to the rentals' websites, which feature numerous photos.
