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    How to Spot a Fake Online Hotel Review

    By Rebecca Greenfield | The Atlantic Wire – Wed, Feb 1, 2012
    How to Spot a Fake Online Hotel Review

    Now that the Advertising Standards Authority has banned hotel recommendation site TripAdvisor from claiming its reviews as truthful,  it's going to be harder than ever to sift out the real from faked. We're here to help. Following last week's Amazon product review scandal, after a months-long scandal involving its faked accommodations assessments,TripAdvisor can no longer call its reviews genuine. As with laudatory Internet product reviews, faux hotel reviews -- both pro and con -- give themselves away.

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    Beware of too many verbs, adverbs and pronouns. This advice comes from Cornell University researchers, who discovered that genuine reviewers reference the actual hotel, whereas the fakers talked up external experiences and travel companions. For example:

    My husband and I stayed at the James Chicago Hotel for our anniversary. This place is fantastic! We knew as soon as we arrived we made the right choice! The rooms are BEAUTIFUL and the staff very attentive and wonderful!! The area of the hotel is great, since I love to shop I couldn’t ask for more!! We will definatly be back to Chicago and we will for sure be back to the James Chicago.

    Unlike someone who had something real to report about the hotel, this person goes on an unrelated tangent because he didn't have an impetus for writing the review. 

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    And, exclamation points. As with product reviews, nobody has that much enthusiasm for a hotel. At least not six exclamation points and an all caps adjective's worth. Also, adverbs like "very" and "really" are warning signs. 

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    And, too many mentions of the hotel. This is what we call overcompensation. Like obvious subliminal marketing, fake reviewers think they are doing a better job if they mention the name of the hotel over and over again. 

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    Too long, too short. Kenny Thai got caught soliciting fake reviews for the Thaison Palace Hanoi (see: below). In it for the free goods, we see two patterns. Short, off the cuff reviews that have no content and novellas. If we were to write a fake review, we wouldn't take too much time, like Ben F. "Great place for students! Great staff! Very friendly. Stayed November 2011, traveled with friends." But then some like to go overboard, like PrincezzP77, who wrote a 15 paragraph long description of her stay. Again, nobody is that crazy about hotels unless there's something in it for them. 

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    Or, just use an algorithm. Based on their findings, those Cornell researchers we mentioned developed a 90 percent accurate algorithm for detecting fake hotel reviews. Easier than sifting through the sham prose. 

     

    8 comments

    • cisco
      cisco  •  3 mths ago
      I am SO exicited about posting my thoughts about this YAHOO story!!! Usually the stories on the web get me down but YAHOO’s staf is AMAZING and they are such great purveyor of relevant and interesting content just like the story above. It’s as if YAHOO has an uncanny ability to know what the web surfing public wants to read about, I know, SOOOO WEIRD right?! Cant wait for the next story, I am DEFENITELY hooked on YAHOO and will be telling my friends about YAHOO on Twitter and Facebook!!!
      • lisa c
        lisa c 3 mths ago
        lol
      • Sam
        Sam 3 mths ago
        Not novella length...but getting there...just a few more paragraphs!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • Blanco POV
      Blanco POV  •  3 mths ago
      So .....where ya suppose to get this algorithm to use ?
    • Charles the Cat
      Charles the Cat  •  3 mths ago
      Another way to spot a fake on Trip Advisor is that after a string of bad reviews one glowing, perfect, happy review pops up. Sometimes the good review mentions and dismisses the previous bad points but usually it totally ignores them and goes on to describe a property that sounds nothing like the other reviews.
      • Michelle
        Michelle 3 mths ago
        Overall, true. But there are cases where a hotel, or restaurant, or attraction DOES actually make tremendous improvements. Hotels that were once shabby and stuck in the '80's are remodeled, restaurants get new executive chefs, nightclubs fire their crappy (mis)managers.

        It helps to look at the timeline of reviews. If a place has a string of bad reviews 6 months ago, and now suddenly has one or two awesome reviews, it very well may be the case that the establishment changed owners, employees, clientele, whatever.
    • 2741
      2741  •  Los Angeles, California  •  3 mths ago
      15 paragraphs? and using the name of the hotel over and over? Omg where they get those people? just do short and sweet. "good location and a good hotel overall".
    • Bob
      Bob  •  Santa Fe, New Mexico  •  3 mths ago
      I would like to get PrincezzP77 to write some papers for me for school. Fifteen paragraphs about nothing. She would do great.
    • Michelle
      Michelle  •  3 mths ago
      No matter how good a place is, there will always be one or two bad reviews. This is just the nature of customer service because there will always be that one person who can't be pleased, no matter what. And let's not forget about trolls; people who are just out to create negativity for the LOLz.

      If you really want to judge a place by reviews then simply look to see if there were overall more positive reviews, or if there were overall more negative reviews. If more of the reviews fall above the bar, then give the place a fair shot.
      • Chris Harris
        Chris Harris 3 mths ago
        Well put Michelle
      • A Yahoo! User 3 mths ago
        I agree with everything you said, but I always say take it with a grian of salt. The people that most want to share their experience with the world are generally the ones that had a BAD experience...
        On the flipside, (and I can't really use hotels as an example, but...), so many people write a 5-star review after say, owning a product for two days. Like, "I just bought this TV yesterday and it's totally awesome!" Then they start to have problems with it, but the review has already been written...

        I do reasearch before making purchases... but then I usually don't listen to the reviews anyway, so, I don't know why I bother.
    • Molania
      Molania  •  Kansas City, Missouri  •  3 mths ago
      Yahoo News is FANTASTIC!!!!!! My husband and I read it every day!!! The stories are great and the writers are wonderful!!! I will definitely read it again!!
      • 2741
        2741 3 mths ago
        you forgot to name Yahoo over and over
      • Nemesis
        Nemesis 3 mths ago
        Especially anything by the super, awesome, fantastic, amazing sports writer Chris Chase!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      • Tim V
        Tim V 3 mths ago
        omfg, C. You are amazing.
    • Chris Harris
      Chris Harris  •  Boston, Massachusetts  •  3 mths ago
      Totally #$%$ article. I have a small hotel with 120 five star revies, 7 four star and nothing less. ALL 100% legit. 80% of my reviews use the many verbs and laud the great area, village, location and staff. This article is yotal #$%$ They have no idea what they are talking about. If you give GREAT service GREAT accommodations, EXCELLENT location then those are what your reviewers say.
      • Molania
        Molania 3 mths ago
        The way you are yelling so obstinately, I don't think I want to stay at your 100% LEGIT, GREAT GREAT EXCELLENT hotel, thank you.
     Post a comment
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