TA is a good resource but like all user generated content treat with sceptical caution. Like wikapedia, the truth is not necessarily on the page.

Kevin

It is actually quite difficult to tarnish reputations using black hat SEO tactics. After all if it was quite simple everyone would be at it to try and promote their sites in the index by driving everyone else’s down. Google are aware of the possibility of that and will not penalize is such situations.

That said there ware ways and means but they are at the edge of my understanding of the subject at the moment, one such way suggested to me was to spam Matt Cutts personal blog with a few thousand postings using porn anchor texts directed to the offending site. This of course would need to be done from behind proxies for absolute anonymity.

Given Mr Cutts role within google this should achieve the desired effect. So as you can see not impossible but not easy either. 99% of the people in Blackpool won’t understand the terms spam let alone proxies and anchor texts so hopefully no fear of anyone launching such an attack against me or anyone else in the future.

So it looks like the B&B wars if there are to be any will have to be fought along more traditional lines…..

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/

In fact, gaming reviews and comments is something that’s been done for years – just look at the letters page and restaurant pages of local papers.

I’d say that TA actually has an advantage when it comes to this sort of activity. As they said themselves, they’re proactively taking steps, using technology available, to seek out suspect comments. And, as the social networking element of the site develops, I think the reputation of commenters will lend credence to what they have to say, as well as any photos they might want to upload. It’s one of the ways in which Ebay succeeds, through giving people a seller/ buyer rating.

As you may come to find out, the concern won’t necessarily be with sites like TA and duff reviews, but how SEO is used to the detriment of a competitor – that’s when you really need to start being concerned. Fortunately, most Blackpool B&Bers don’t have a clue about this area and how to develop a strategy, so it’s something you hopefully will never experience

It seems there will no longer any escape for fruadsters….

Example here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60982-d596760-Reviews-Hotel_Renew-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html

Message from TripAdvisor: TripAdvisor has reasonable cause to believe that either this property or individuals associated with the property may have attempted to manipulate our popularity index by interfering with the unbiased nature of our reviews. Please take this into consideration when researching your travel plans.