Paid to post fake tripadvisor review...urghh

Philippines
February 12, 2013 7:52am CST
I have had an account on tripadvisor since 2011, which I use to check on reviews for resorts or places we want to visit. And, I never thought there could be many fake reviews. I have always counted much on reviews and feedback of other travelers who've been there and posted their comments on the site. However, yesterday, I picked up a job at odesk to post one review on tripadvisor. Everything I needed to write was fed by them and after I submitted the review, then I got paid $2 for it. At first I was hesitant because there is a warning on the website about being banned if caught putting fake reviews. But, the employer assured me it's not against tripadvisor rules. Do you guys, know about this scheme?
3 people like this
7 responses
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
12 Feb 13
What was the review about? Could you see any indication that the review was being posted for an 'interested party'? The Guidelines/Help Centre specifically forbid people with a vested interest in the property/venue from posting reviews about it and they also specifically forbid people from asking others to post on their behalf. It sounds as if this is an attempt to subvert the impartiality of reviews, especially as you were provided with explicit detail to include in the review. The proper thing to do would be to withdraw your review, as described here: http://tripadvisor.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/542 and advise Tripadvisor Admins that you were misled into posting a fake review, giving details of the 'employer'. This may, at least, save your account from being banned once the misdemeanour is discovered and should, hopefully, lead to a reduction in the incidence of fake reviews like this.
2 people like this
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
13 Feb 13
I am not aware of it, but that could be really possible. So, it is more likely what other resort owners do to make their place more inviting for people to come to their resorts.
1 person likes this
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
12 Feb 13
I didn't know people were doing this. I think it probably is against tripadvisor rules, or maybe there is a loophole that allows this to happen. I wonder how many other places have hired people to post fake reviews?
1 person likes this
@salonga (27775)
• Philippines
12 Feb 13
Oh dear, it is not whether it is against the rule of Trip Advisor but the issue here is your conscience. I don't mean to offend you but if I were you, I will not accept such a job because it is a way of cheating the readers. Of course the owner will tell you it is not against the rules for obvious reasons. Now it is only your conscience to decide if you will accept such a task for a meager amount while cheating readers. Certainly, the owner's desire is to promote the resort because summer is coming and many tourists are looking for the best resort to go. I believe the resort is unpopular. Maybe it is not really a good place to stay because if it is, the owner does not have to pay for such kind of promotion. If Visitors are pleased with that place, they will surely write without being paid at all. I am writing at Trip Advisor about my true experiences on places I visit whether I got pleased or not.Trip Advisor does not pay for reviews but this is my way of helping people (who like me love to travel) decide on which place to go. Anyway, thank you for sharing that truth here. At least now I know that I should not trust every review written at Trip Advisor.
@Porcospino (31367)
• Denmark
13 Feb 13
I didn't know they found people who wrote the fake reviews, but I knew that the fake reviews on Trip Advisor existed. I read about the fake reviews somewhere on the internet, but I don't remember where. The reviews about a certain place are often very different from eachother. Some people really liked the place and other people thought that it was horrible. I think that it natural to find that kind of differences, because people have different expectations and they don't evaluate the places the same way. I think that is one of the reasons why it can be hard to get a clear picture of a certain place through the reviews. The fake reviews make it even harder to get an honest evaluation of a place.
1 person likes this
@DianneN (246452)
• United States
27 Mar 20
I have never been paid for putting up reviews. I hope fake reviews are a thing of the past.
@joliefille (3690)
• Philippines
14 Feb 13
Not good. Though it's not surprising for me that there are employers in oDesk or Freelancer who will pay for fake reviews. I am subscribed to Trip Advisor and it is discouraging to visit not knowing the reviews I'm reading are just made up.