Tripadvisor’s credibility needs more guts, less praises.

For a restaurant review on Tripadvisor to be accurate, it needs a touch of negativity here and there.

Some of the reviews from Tripadvisor boggle the mind. Why? Because taste and colors are not up to debate and because gastronomy will always be a matter for subjectivity, even when it is haute cuisine. It can be disheartening to see comments for the same establishment ranging from best in the world to absolute worst.

A few weeks ago, a restaurant owner from the Var department of France published a video of him addressing some of the critics and bad rating left by unimpressed customers. Visibly annoyed, he was delivering a message: “having a Thermomix at home is not enough to call yourself a chef.” This casual example raises questions about the widely uberized nature of some jobs. After ''everyone car can be a taxi'' (thank you Uber) and ''everyone can be a photograph'' (thank you Instagram), now anybody can become a Michelin inspector or pretend they're a great chef. 

Who to believe? How to form an opinion? This is a crucial matter, even more so when reviews on Tripadvisor cannot be filtered. First, you have restaurant owners hiding behind a pseudonym to discredit their competitors. Then you have the bad reviews left by disheartened customers. No recipe in the world could mend a broken heart – the chef is not to blame if you had a bad night. Digesting will be painful, not matter what is on the menu.

It is worth noting that Tripadvisor has a zero-tolerance policy for insults. As a result, some reviews are less fiery than they would otherwise be, while others are hilarious or downright crazy. A friend told me about the delicate and precious wording of an angry customer: 'The mother of the guy who likes to think he's a chef is also a cook, but of a different category, the kind that happily lays in bed with apprentices.'' The review was taken down following the owner’s complaint. One of my own reviews was rejected because of a supposed insult. To this day, I still wonder what triggered this negative response… The word ‘meat balls’ perhaps. Algorithms are so charming!

Let’s talk about algorithms while we are at it. Purchasing negative reviews is illegal. You may be fined for up to $40,000. There is a case whenever the restaurant feels it is being unfairly criticized for the quality of its products when they are, in fact, fresh. There are plenty of abuses. Remember the famous case of La Scaletta, a mock-up Italian restaurant from Moniga del Garda (Italy) which was rated number one in the country thanks to fake reviews?

So, what do we do now? Do we go back to paper guides? Let’s be realistic here. Since Thomas Kohnstamm published his book Do travel writers go to hell?, their credibility has come under heavy fire. It is a useful profession, but it is in way over its head. How can a bunch of specialized journalists compete against hundreds of daily users?

I have asked someone whose job is to fake reviews and study customer behavior on Tripadvisor. ‘‘Is there a weapon strong enough to deter the fakers?’’ I asked him. “Authenticity”, he answered. “Really hard to come by. Really hard to mimic.” According to him, most customers won’t even consider going to a restaurant if it is rated less than 4 macarons. They then go through the list of positive and negative comments with a fine-tooth comb. If the praises are unrealistic, they move on to the next restaurant. The only way to keep them interested is if they find a bit of negative feedback here and there.

A downright bad review is easy to spot but not often spot on. A very critical review (1 to 3 macarons) with solid arguments and examples to back it up is harder to come by. Because excellence is a myth, some negative feedback actually brings credibility to the establishment. Imperfection is what make the world whole.

A conclusion is in order. To make Tripadvisor more accurate and tailored to customers’ needs, negative feedback has to be well-argued, teeming with details of past experiences and personal stories that help us relate to the user and better appreciate his or her point of view. Next time you grab a fork and knife, don’t forget your quill and ink!

By Olivier Auroy, Joint Managing Director, Kantar Added Value