This article published in The Belfast Telegraph inform us about the sanction chosen by TripAdvisor to punish fake reviews, which are in violation of the 2009 EU Unfair Commercial Practice Directive.
It happened with a hotel located in Ireland: The Clare Inn Hotel & Suites. The hotel had posted some fake reviews in order to boost its ratings. TripAdvisor had punished the establishment by given a "red badge".
The goal of the warning on the hotel website is to inform that individuals or entities may have interfered with traveler reviews.
The Clare Inn Hotel & Suites is not the only hotel which had been given a "red badge", there are about 280 other, and obviously many more hotels which post fake reviews, and get away with it.
TripAdvisor wouldn't not remove the hotel from it site, they are convinced that the "red badge" is a better punishment.
Now, two question are asked. The first one is "Why does TripAdvisor prefer to give a "red badge" instead of remove the hotel from it site ?". TripAdvisor is a portal, it performance can be measured by the number of visitors and the time spent. Each request on Internet regarding a hotel is an opportunity for TripAdvisor to get new visitors. If it removes the hotel, researches won't lead to TripAdvisor Website. However, if an internet user see a "red badge", he might spend more time on TripAdvisor Website to find another hotel.
Then, "How does TripAdvisor detect fraud ?". We won't have a clear answer, as TripAdvisor won't tell exactly how they find fraud since that might offer a possibility to subvert it system. However, we know that they have prevention methods and a professional team who enhance many hours to assure the integrity of the website. They also use automated tools.
