TripAdvisor fined $611K in Italy over fake reviews
The travel review website, TripAdvisor, has been slapped with a 500,000 euro fine (approximately $611,000) by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA). TripAdvisor has been accused, and ultimately fined, for not doing enough to prevent false reviews on their site and consequently “misleading consumers”. This is the first time in Europe or the United States that a review site has faced financial penalties.
Following complaints from Italian hotel owners and consumers, the ICA conducted a seven-month long investigation before making their decision. The regulator have said that the travel review site failed to put in place reasonable controls to stop incorrect reviews being placed on the site, as well as promoting their site as “authentic and genuine”. The ICA has provided the company with a 90-day deadline, in which time they will need to come up with a solution for the problems.
In a statement TripAdvisor said, “Our systems and procedures are extremely efficient in protecting consumers from a small minority of people who try to con our system.” The company has disputed the decision and has stated that they will appeal.
This is not the first time that TripAdvisor has been investigated. The Advertising Standards Authority for the UK investigated TripAdvisor in 2011 and 2012, which lead to the company ending its “reviews you can trust” slogan. They also stopped claiming that the reviews on the TripAdvisor site are from “real” travelers.
In 2011, a French court fined Expedia $484,000 for misleading marketing practices; this was due to them mislabeling prices on certain French hotel rooms.
On December 15, Booking.com agreed to make changes to their contractual agreements. Their contracts initially stated that all hotels listed on Booking.com had to offer the same price on their site as they did on any other competitor sites.
A hotel in Britain recently threated to fine guests for leaving bad TripAdvisor or Yelp reviews. After leaving a bad review, a British couple faced a $160 charge, which was levied against their credit card. The hotel owners did eventually refund the money.
photo credit: ViaggioRoutard via photopin cc
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