Has Google Dropped TripAdvisor Reviews?
Since a couple of days ago (December 4th) TripAdvisor reviews are no longer showing in Google Maps and Google search results for accommodation.
If you search for “hotels” on Google Maps, then click on the “reviews” for any property, you’ll find that TripAdvisor reviews no longer show for any hotel or B&B. However, reviews for www.booking.com, www.hotels.com, www.concierge.com and other sites that require proof of stay are unaffected and still appear, as well as reviews posted through Google Places.
No TripAdvisor Reviews on Google
Obviously this will be a major blow to TripAdvisor as the presence of their reviews in the Google Places/Maps results drive millions of hits to its sites each day. So is this deliberate on the part of TripAdvisor and/or Google, or is it a cock-up?
At this stage is not 100% certain whether
- there is a glitch in Google Places that is preventing TripAdvisor reviews from showing up,
- TripAdvisor has blocked their use by Google, or
- Google has deliberately blocked TripAdvisor reviews.
Questions have been posed on both TripAdvisor and Google forums asking for clarification but up until now both parties are remaining tight lipped.
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Whatever the reason, it appears at this time that it’s not deliberate on Google’s part. On the blog http://blumenthals.com/blog/2010/12/07/google-missing-tripadvisor-reviews/ a ‘Google spokesperson’ is reported as saying:
“We’re aware of a technical issue in which TripAdvisor reviews are sometimes not appearing in results for Google Places, and our team is working to resolve the matter.”
‘Working to resolve the matter’ could mean just about anything – an internal bug at TA, the same at Google, or a dispute between them both.
As Steve says, hard to get to the Truth!
The point here is that although there is now no direct link to TA from either Google Search or Maps, the TA rating is being incorporated into the Google rankings, as part of Google’s mix of criteria that drives their ranking system. It is no secret that Google uses a variety of criteria and it appears, if this newletter is correct, that TA rankings is just another set of criteria so used. If this is correct, it would explain why it has been dropped as a separate search result on Google, as one would compromise the other. It should also be noted that TA has been offering discounted accommodation, via these old links, and this has never been available through the majority of businesses so caught in the TA / Google net. By using TA as part of Google rankings this would clear this problem away whilst, imho, producing disturbing trends elsewhere.
Interesting as it is (and I mean that sincerely), I don’t see how dropping Trip Advisor reviews from the displayed results gels with preference being given to hotels (or whatever) that have higher ratings on Trip Adviser.
I can’t see Google being influenced y by Trip Adviser. And if it were, why blank them out?
Maybe they are tight lipped because there is another agenda altogether. I have just received this as part of a newsletter from my website company:
‘LATEST GOOGLE TREND!
Search engine result placements change
Google is now working closer than ever with TripAdvisor and this has resulted in a major difference in search engine result placements. This new system currently affects just hotels, but this is sure to follow through eventually to affect all types of accommodation providers.
Preference listings are now given to hotels rated by TripAdvisor, and the listing takes into account the number of TripAdvisor reviews as well as the TripAdvisor star rating. This means like it or not, hoteliers must embrace TripAdvisor or risk losing their search engine rankings.’
I suppose it will, as ever, be hard ‘To Get the Truth’!
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