Daodao, the local imprint of TripAdvisor in China, is the subject of an investigation after a damning report into the validity of its reviews.
The report by KwikChex, the UK-based online reputation management company which has been a ongoing thorn in the side of the user review service for years, carried out the study into a number of online review services and activity in emerging markets.
KwikChex says it tested various sites, including TripAdvisor as well as Yelp, Google and Trustpilot, to ensure the published reviews are genuine.
The company claims that are hotspots of suspicious activity on TripAdvisor, with many in Asia such as Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and India, alongside other parts of the world such as the Dominican Republic, Morocco and cities such as Las Vegas in US.
In DaoDao, a member has posted 2,633 reviews since November 2010, and another member posted 1,361 reviews (to date) since October 2012, Kwikchex claims.
The latter person has also claimed to have stayed at 51 hotels in Paris in March 2013. Also, the person appears to have stayed at around 50 other hotels all over the world in March 2013 - including Germany, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, US and China.
When Tnooz asked KwikChex whether these users are fake users/ paid reviewers, the company's co-founder Chris Emmins says:
"Difficult to say at this stage - when we first looked at the phenomenon, we thought that there may have been some type of incentive running in China - a similar thing happened in India.
"But now we are seeing patterns where the same properties are cropping up on several of these reviewers profiles. We do know, beyond doubt that various budget type travellers with good IT skills tout for the business of fake good reviews with businesses around the world and this may be the cause of some of it."
When asked about Emmins about the number of reviews by so-called "super reviewers", he adds:
"To be candid, we are finding it difficult to belive the majority of what we are seeing on daodao - I would say the 'super-reviewers' (typically those that TripAdvisor designate the 'Top 500' all need a thorough investigation.
"Often they have over 400 reviews in a short space of time and some many more than that. But even below that level we are seeing further patterns and connections that should definitely be investigated."
A TripAdvisor official says a number of reviews by DaoDao members "have been removed from the site pending further investigation".
He adds:
"We fight fraud aggressively and have sophisticated systems and teams in place to detect fraudsters, whether they be users or business owners, and we have penalties in place to deter them.
"These detection techniques and deterrents mean the amount of fraud attempted is extremely small. The fact is, the scale of TripAdvisor means there is honesty in numbers – with 150 million reviews and opinions and 90 contributions a minute the community in itself is a self-regulating force."
"It is also worth noting that the China business operates on a separate platform from TripAdvisor to accommodate the significant market and regulatory differences in China. Our fraud detection logic and processes are also configured to the unique characteristics in that market.
"China is a highly dynamic emerging market and continuing to maintain the high quality of our reviews by identifying new fraud patterns is an ongoing effort that we take very seriously."
Emmins told Tnooz that KwikChex travelled to Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia to meet hotel owners. He adds:
"Owners there are asking if we can produce a system that enables greater authentication - they want consumer feedback, but also want a level playing field and a fair representation of the true standards of their businesses.
"We are working with them currently and believe we can achieve this within the next few weeks."
Emmins is no stranger to poking TripAdvisor in the eye with investigations and initiatives by KwikChex.
The company (in)famously issued a threat of legal action against TripAdvisor in September 2010, after claiming hoteliers were tired of the brand and its practices around dealing with alleged fake reviews.
The saga rolled on for some 18 months (during which UK advertising regulators launched an investigation) and ultimately led to TripAdvisor being ordered to change the wording around its claim that reviews on the site are "real".
Earlier in Tnooz, we covered how an Accor employee posted dozens of reviews anonymously, also how a company by name Hotel Oracle claimed to be gaming TripAdvisor reviews.
NB:Shock image via Shutterstock.