FTC probes TripAdvisor after report
More reviewers say rape warnings were blocked
An investigation by the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel revealed that TripAdvisor had deleted reports of rapes, blackouts and other injuries and deaths among travelers vacationing in Mexico. Since then, dozens more people have said that TripAdvisor silenced their reports of disturbing, sometimes terrifying experiences.
The Federal Trade Commission is now looking into TripAdvisor’s business practices, according to a letter sent Friday to Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Acting on reports that TripAdvisor deleted accounts of rapes, blackouts and other injuries and deaths among travelers vacationing in Mexico, the Federal Trade Commission is looking into the company’s business practices, according to a letter sent Friday to Sen. Tammy Baldwin, DWis., who urged the agency to take action.
“The Commission has a strong interest in protecting consumer confidence in the online marketplace, including the robust online market for hotel and travel,” wrote Maureen Ohlhausen, acting chairwoman of the FTC. “When consumers are unable to post honest reviews about a business, it can harm other consumers whose abilities to make well-informed purchase decisions are hindered and harm businesses that work hard to earn positive reviews.”
An investigation by the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, published Nov. 1, revealed that travelers accused TripAdvisor of silencing their reports of disturbing, sometimes terrifying, experiences when they tried to post on its website.
Monday, the president of the International Hotel & Restaurant Association in Geneva, told the Journal Sentinel his organization might come up with its own system of punishment for hotels and other establishments where serious injuries and deaths take place.
Tuesday, a lawyer in Texas representing the family of a Wisconsin woman who drowned in January under mysterious circumstances at a resort pool in Mexico, said he received about 30 calls in the past couple of weeks from people who had their negative posts deleted by TripAdvisor.
Aside from uncovering how TripAdvisor deleted negative posts, deeming them hearsay, “off-topic” or in violation of “family friendly” guidelines, the
Journal Sentinel investigation found the website’s policies and practices keep consumers in the dark in a multitude of ways.
Users have no way to know how many negative reviews TripAdvisor withheld, how many troubling experiences never get told.
It’s difficult for site users to realize that much of what appears on their screens has been selected and crafted to encourage them to spend.
Secret algorithms determine which