‘Fake’ online reviews hit 85% of hotels and restaurants

Nearly nine out of 10 British hotels and restaurants have received “fake and malicious” reviews online, according to new figures.

(Photo: Wiki)

A survey conducted by industry body the British Hospitality Association (BHA) found that around 85% of hospitality businesses have been given unfair reviews designed to blackmail management or damage their reputations.

The figure has risen by 20% since BHA’s last survey in 2015.

The BHA — a private-sector forum for the hospitality sector — also found that there was a 9% decline in the number of businesses who actually found online reviews useful since the last survey.

Just over 70% of respondents believed feedback from the public on websites like Tripadvisor useful.

“It is very hard to qualify,” said one of the respondents to the survey. “One bad review can undo 30 good reviews.”

Many of those surveyed said that the anonymity that websites like Tripadvisor provide mean that restaurants and hotels are open to unfair criticism which is difficult to disprove.

One business owner in Henley said that some businesses will buy good reviews to protect themselves against negative feedback.

“My biggest concern is hearing recently hearing that reviews can be bought from websites in Asia,” they said.

Another respondent in Glasgow said that they would rather businesses had more control over public feedback.

“We have our own in-house client survey,” it said, “which is usually more accurate and timely.”

Around 65% of respondents said that transparency was a problem with website rankings, while more than half revealed that they had been threatened with bad reviews or blackmailed into refunding diners.

Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the BHA, said that while online reviews are important for transparency between the restauranteur and consumer, “the relentless and largely unregulated growth of the digital intermediaries means that hospitality businesses in the real world – who often pay large commissions to these sites on bookings – are at the mercy of these firms.”

“More must be done to tackle fake and malicious reviews and provide greater transparency provided in the ratings systems.”

Tripadvisor has been approached for comment.