Booking, Expedia and Tripadvisor form coalition against “fake reviews”

05-11-23

Some of the travel industry's largest companies have joined with other major players that rely on online customer reviews to launch a global coalition for trusted reviews to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions.

The coalition includes Booking.com, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor, which have helped organize the initiative. The travel companies are joined by Amazon, employment and recruiting website Glassdoor and business review website Trustpilot.

"Consumer and partner trust in our platforms and businesses is a priority for the members of this coalition, who have agreed to join together to fight fake reviews online," said Becky Foley, vice president of trust and safety at Tripadvisor. "To further maintain the credibility and authenticity of reviews on our platforms, our goal is to make it increasingly difficult for fraudulent actors who attempt to deceive our customers to operate online."

The companies met in October 2022 in San Francisco at a conference organized by Tripadvisor. Experts from government, academia and industry discussed common challenges and possible approaches to detecting fake reviews or "fake reviews." The conference ended with the establishment of a formal coalition, which will meet again in Brussels on December 5-6 for a second conference, hosted by Amazon.

"Customer reviews are an important part of the shopping experience, and the goal of this coalition is to ensure that all reviews reflect real customer experiences," said Dharmesh Mehta, Vice President of Global Seller Partner Services at Amazon.