TripAdvisor removes 'reviews you can trust' slogan after ASA investigation is launched
TripAdvisor has removed the slogan reviews you can trust from its website after an investigation was launched by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA).
The slogan has been replaced with the phrase reviews from our community on the hotels section of the popular travel review website.
The change comes after an online reputation management company successfully campaigned to have the website investigated over alleged fake reviews on its site.
TripAdvisor has removed the slogan 'reviews you can trust' and replaced it with the phrase 'reviews from our community' on the hotels section of its website
Other sections of TripAdvisor, including the reviews of restaurants and attractions, still carry the original slogan and the sites claim that it publishes more than 50 million honest travel reviews and opinions from real travellers around the world also remains.
The ASA announced that it was launching an official investigation on September 1 following complaints about the authenticity of reviews.
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Up to 2,000 hoteliers had approached KwikChex.com after they felt they had been unfairly represented online.
KwikChex said it believed that between five million and 10 million TripAdvisor reviews could be fake and challenged the use of slogans such as reviews you can trust and read reviews from real travellers, saying that they were misleading and could not be substantiated.
More than 45 million consumers use TripAdvisor each month to help them choose hotels
It also alleged that the website does not authenticate its reviews or verify its users and refuses to remove fraudulent posts, even when it has been proven they make false accusations.
Under the ASA's Committee of Advertising Practice - or CAP code - companies are not allowed to use 'unverifiable' testimonials on their promotional material.
Yet TripAdvisor allegedly encourages businesses to use quotes from its website on their own sites or in their brochures, despite not knowing where they come from.
KwikChex believes this apparent breach of the ASA code could force TripAdvisor to verify where it gets its positive comments from and, in turn, who is posting negative reviews.
KwikChexs co-founder Chris Emmins, saidthe company had recently found more cases of hotels being the target offalse negative reviews, and subsequently being red flagged by TripAdvisor.
TripAdvisor red flags a business when there have been several allegations of misconduct against it and places awarning notice on its listing stating that individuals or entities associated with or having an interest in this property may have interfered with traveller reviews and/or the popularity index for this property.
Emmins said: One of the latest such cases brought to our attention may well have been the target of false ! negative reviews, but was then additionally 'red flagged' by TripAdvisor.
We believe we know the cause of this and can demonstrate not only the falsehood of the accusation by TripAdvisor but also how this again proves several flaws in their systems.
He added: Such practices are extremely significant and will add weight to the evidence of abuse and lack of diligence.
The slogan 'reviews you can trust' remains on the restaurant reviews section of the website
More than 45 million consumers use TripAdvisor each month to help them choose hotels and restaurants for their holidays.
The website has refused to comment on the current ASA investigation but TripAdvisors Angus Struthers said the company took the authenticity of customer reviews very seriously.
He said: We have numerous methods to ensure the legitimacy of the content on TripAdvisor.
We devote thousands of hours each year to battling fraud and improving our fraud detection efforts to ensure the integrity of our content.
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