StyledOn Blog TripAdvisor is being crushed by Google Reviews

An interesting trend has been taking place in the travel industry. In a quiet, yet steady way, Google Reviews has been expanding their review market share to brick and mortar businesses. Because hotels, inns, and B&Bs are a 100% location-driven industry the change directly affects both their earnings and their branding. Online reviews left by strangers have been regarded as as trustworthy as personal suggestions. But placing this level of confidence in reviews demands users to be able to filter authentic reviews from fake ones. This can be very frustrating on sites like TripAdvisor which is controlled via a powerful “secret algorithm.” Still, hotels and inns are under the TripAdvisor influence for some time recently. TripAdvisor is so prominent in the discussion that I felt it was time for a 3500-word article about how you can stop your hotel from getting obsessed with TripAdvisor. Google with its “ofcourse, we can make it better” mantra is building its review platform. It is now fully integrated into its existing search engine and maps empire. They are always playing to win. Let’s talk about Yelp, baby! Before we get to the implications of the new and improved Google Reviews on TripAdvisor, we’ll talk about another local-focused, hyper-local review platform…you know, the one that inspired a South Park Episode. Yelp is the one I’m talking about. The way we look at where Yelp currently stands can give us a glimpse of how things might play out for TripAdvisor in the near future. This is the story of Yelp. Greed Two words…Advertising dollars. This is where things got out of hand. Yelp put their advertisements strong on local businesses exactly like TripAdvisor is doing today with hotels. This practice led to numerous accusations of extortion by business owners against Yelp. Most complaints focused on either positive reviews being removed from a company’s website if they did not purchase ads, or Yelp letting competitors pay for ads to remove/hide negative reviews. The similarities to some of the review/ranking/advertising issues TripAdvisor is experiencing right now is surreal. Pushback You may file lawsuits against the Federal Trade Commission. These cases were dismissed by the FTC but they brought to light the dire state of small business owners who are being held hostage to Yelp Elites as well as Yelp ads. It reminds me of the exhausted B&B owner in tears about his TripAdvisor reviews. Ethical business owners move their advertising dollars to platforms that aren’t too costly for small-scale businesses. Yelp was not helped by movies like Billion Dollar Bully. Winds of Change There is no way to know what the future holds. Since 2014, the general population has moved to Google Reviews, Google Maps and Instagram…and advertising dollars have come along with it. These platforms are much more accessible than Yelp’s. While user reviews remain very important, the way that people view data has changed. People find it easier to communicate with businesses on Google/Instagram/Twitter than on Yelp. Result? Advertising declines - stock price declines. Perception One thing is for certain when you are an expert in the travel industry with friends in the restaurant business: People writing Yelp reviews aren’t considered to be the most intelligent people on the planet. South Park’s entire episode on Yelp Elites was instrumental to showcasing the issue. I can’t agree more. My friends from restaurants and chefs have significantly decreased the amount of time they are spending on Yelp. Instead, they look up images of food online to check how their food is received and then share it on websites like Google Reviews and Instagram. It is great to be able to instantly verify the reviewer’s credentials and provide social proof! These platforms allow business owners to increase their chances of directly interacting with reviews of both positive and negative.