TripAdvisor launches new features for pubs and restaurants
The company’s new subscription package, TripAdvisor Premium for Restaurants, gives operators access to a range of new analytical and review management tools.
These include the ability to highlight 'favourite' reviews and pin them to the top of their page, access to analytics that deliver aggregated performance, customer and competitor data and priority phone support from TripAdvisor staff.
TripAdvisor senior vice-president of global sales Robin Ingle said: “Providing a business with the opportunity to improve its content and customise its presence on TripAdvisor helps partners better understand and engage with their customers."
Storyboard feature
TripAdvisor also announced the upcoming launch of Storyboard, a feature that will allow operators to turn static photos and reviews into a visual presentation.
Ingle added: “Research shows that with more proactive management of a business’s presence on TripAdvisor, combined with frequent interaction with the data and insights we provide to our subscriber partners in the management centre, deepens engagement and drives increased revenue for a business.”
TripAdvisor has repeatedly come under fire from pub and restaurant operators who claim they have fallen victim to fake and unfair reviews.
Several notable cases have made headlines including a recent incident when a London pub manager took to social media to “shame” TripAdvisor into removing a “xenophobic” review that it had previously refused to take down.
Own opinion
Karen Errington, co-owner of the Rat Inn, Anick, previously told The Morning Advertiser (MA): “If we get bad reviews on there, that’s fair enough. If someone doesn’t like what you do, they are entitled to their own opinion.
“But the thing that really annoys me about it is people can go on there and publish something that bears no resemblance to what’s actually happened on the day.”
TripAdvisor endeavours to remove fake or slanderous reviews but must leave reviews online while they are vetted to remain within legal boundaries that govern comment moderation online.
This means that in some cases, contested reviews can be visible for several days before TripAdvisor removes them.
