The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority revealed on Thursday that it has initiated an investigation of online hotel review company TripAdvisor over allegedly false reviews.
The investigation was initiated by an official complaint from online reputation consulting company KwikChex after it spent months collected data on allegedly false and derogatory reviews of hotels posted on TripAdvisor websites.
This is the second government investigation of TripAdvisor in Britain. In July the Office of Fair Trade launched an investigation into the alleged bribery by hotels of guests for positive reviews.
TripAdvisor, a subsidiary of Expedia, Inc., maintains that the vast majority of reviews on its website are legitimate and there is “zero tolerance” for hoteliers and reviewers breaking policy. Penalties include getting a red badge for phony reviews posted on the hotel’s review page.