Should Reviews be Reviewed?

I generally dont think reviews should be reviewed.

I am a user of TripAdvisor and CNet, but when I go to post reviews, I feel a bit of a buzz kill. I write a thoughtful review and BAMM- I get smacked in the face with a message that basically tells me my review may be good enough. "Thanks for your submission, Jolie. Your review will be posted in 7 days (if it meets our criteria)."

I completely understand why sites like CNet and TripAdvisor do it, but I feel disappointed each time. I am a credible person, right? Why am I penalized because others arent always as honest?

Personally, I thrive on the instant gratification. I like knowing that I can write the review and then I can see it live instantly!

I am also a big believer in communities. I think people are smart and have good intuition. Reputation matters. People can sniff out those fraudulent reviews and not let them rise to the top. Maybe not on day 1. But over time, it becomes clear who you can trust.

Am I missing something?

Travel websites clamp down on bogus reviews (Reuters Friday, 16 February 2007)

....Trustworthy sources of information are sometimes difficult to find on the Internet, and user reviews have become a way for many sites to offer apparently unbiased opinions...But the authenticity of the opinions has not always been reliable.

"We have certainly seen instances with other properties where insiders have put reviews up for a particular hotel or a particular thing and it's not a legitimate review," said Jeff Boyd, Priceline.com's Chief Executive. "It's somebody who's in effect been paid to make the property look good." Boyd said, speaking at the Reuters Hotels and Casinos 2007 Summit in Los Angeles this week.

Priceline.com says it addresses the problem of bogus reviews by only allowing users to post opinions if its records show that the person has stayed at the hotel.

Every review on TripAdvisor is read by a person trained in fraud detection. If a fake review does slip through, it is taken down immediately, and hotels seeking to "game the system" are penalized, said TripAdvisor spokesman Brooke Ferencsik.

Rob Solomon, CEO of SideStep... estimates that 1 per cent to 2 per cent of the reviews on SideStep and other travel sites are bogus. But he says the industry and users are aware of the problem and addressing it.

"We do a little bit of quality control and then the community starts policing itself. The cream of the crop starts rising to the top," Solomon said.

"It will never go away completely, but I think you can minimize it," he said. "Consumers are pretty smart. They can smell a rat. I don't see (fake reviews) as an imminent threat."