The fool of Tripadvisor and the revenge of the true word of mouth – Orticalab

The fool of Tripadvisor and the revenge of the true word of mouth – Orticalab

The fine Antitrust

Tripadvisor fined five hundred thousand euro Antitrust because “emphasizes the authenticity and genuine reviews.”

The press release reported yesterday afternoon by several national newspapers online decrees the end of an era. The popular review site online American, landed in Italy for some time, it would violate Articles 20, 21 and 22 of the Consumer Code, since the alleged conduct are “likely to mislead a wide audience of consumers in order to the nature and characteristics of the main product and alter their economic behavior “Simply put, Advisor uses an unfair commercial practice.

There was once word of mouth. Looking for a nice place to visit, where to eat and / or sleep, once asked the advice of his friend turn that “there had already been” or, trusting their intuition, they opted for the choice of a place rather than another. The advent of the digital age and online portal has upset every rule and Tripadvisor has become the trusted companion of each trip out of millions of people all over the world.

According to Tripadvisor, for example, between Avellino province and there would be 48 places to stay, 45 houses, 110 attractions and well 870 eating places. Each of these elements build a strict classification in which, from first to last place, will outline the principles by which a potential customer can decide to choose one place rather than another. To act as masters on TripAdvisor, therefore, would be the customer reviews.

But quis custodiet ipsos custodes? The structural limits of this famous site far outweigh its benefits. First, the lack of a guarantor, territorial least, able to determine what the editors of the site can not do: testing the accuracy of any information contained in it.

Aside from the obvious presence of repeated errors geographical localization of tourism activities, some locals appear several times and with slightly different names. Others, by contrast, closed for quite some time, continue to be present and even reviewed yet, for good or bad. Pictures, very often, are associated with locations outside the geographical areas treated and, last but not least, no one manages the changes in management.

The point is, those reviews, of course it is, are subjective and not objective. De gustibus non est dispuntandum, but how is it that they are the same reviews that lead to the local stars and judgments that they like comparative to the stables? Who controls the veracity of those reviews?

Trusting Tripadvisor, then, beyond all prejudice is, simultaneously, a good and a bad thing, for both the customer and the manager. We have always found fully with what is reported by a review read on that site?

In contrast, however, we must consider the fact that behind every activity there are men and women who have sacrificed everything for the job and that space, throwing bitter tears for “pull a living” in times of crisis. Behold thrown at the end of the standings because the business that go wrong, to miss reviews or, perhaps, of negative reviews data from the competition, it is not very positive.

At this point, Tripadvisor, mindful of salty fine, pay with bitter tears all these its lightness. Customers, travelers, lovers of good food, at this point, we give you a tip: go back to trust the wise counsel of your friends that “at that place” we have already been. O shared by your intuition. At least, if you found wrong, the showdown will have someone to take it.