Tripadvisor rejected or removed more than 2.7 million fraudulent reviews in 2024, up from two million in 2023.
The company revealed the findings in its 2025 Transparency Report, noting that moderators reviewed approximately 4.2 million reviews before or after they were posted.
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Tripadvisor uses a three-pronged system to moderate reviews, relying on automated checks, human oversight and community input. In 2024, 87.8% of Tripadvisor’s 31.1 million reviews passed automated systems and were published, while 7.3% were rejected by technological analysis and 4.9% were flagged by moderators.
Most of the fake reviews (54%) were the result of “review boosting,” wherein businesses or affiliates post positive reviews to improve ratings on the platform. In 2024, Tripadvisor doled out warnings to approximately 9,000 businesses that incentivized customers or employees to post positive reviews, the report said.
Member fraud—when an independent user posts a review that violates fraud guidelines—accounted for just over 39% of fake reviews. Vandalism reviews and paid reviews accounted for 4.8% and 2.1%, respectively.
Tripadvisor is also dealing with the impact of artificial intelligence, flagging and removing 214,000 AI-generated reviews last year.
"Our approach to AI-generated content is rooted in maintaining traveler trust in opinions shared on our platform," said Becky Foley, head of trust and safety at Tripadvisor.
"While AI has many benefits, removing reviews identified as being written by AI helps our users avoid a 'sea of sameness' on Tripadvisor, allowing them to discover truly unique insights from fellow travelers." The latest figures represent an increase from 2023, when Tripadvisor removed a record two million fake reviews from the site. In 2022, it removed 1.2 million fraudulent reviews.
The fight continues, and in its latest report, Tripadvisor cited a 34% decrease in fake review attempts compared to the previous year. According to Foley, the platform remains committed to trustworthiness.
"As the world's largest travel guidance platform, no one has a greater commitment to ensuring that the content on our site is reliable and trustworthy,” she said.
“While many companies are scaling back their trust and safety efforts, Tripadvisor remains steadfast in prioritizing trust. These actions reaffirm our unwavering commitment to consumer protection and our leadership in the travel industry through integrity and innovation.”