TripAdvisor is an American online travel company that operates a website and mobile app with user-generated content and a comparison-shopping website. It also offers online hotel reservations and bookings for transportation, lodging, travel experiences, and restaurants.
(2013 - present)
via Statista.com
An offensive review of the Auschwitz Museum.(via tmz.com )
Tripadvisor has been the subject of controversy for allowing unsubstantiated anonymous reviews to be posted about any hotel, bed, and breakfast, inn, or restaurant.
In May 2021, Tripadvisor faced criticism for allowing an offensive review to be posted about the Auschwitz concentration camp museum in which a visitor described bringing a baby to the gas chambers.
Tripadvisor initially stated the review complied with their submission guidelines but later removed it following social media backlash.
Tripadvisor app. Photo: Alamy.(via theguardian.com)
In Dec 2014, the Italian Antitrust Authority fined Tripadvisor €500,000 for improper commercial practices on the Tripadvisor website.
The Italian Authority said Tripadvisor and its Italian arm should stop publishing misleading information about the sources of the reviews. In Jun 2015, a fake restaurant created by a newspaper rose to the top of the site's rankings in Italy.
In Aug 2013, Kenneth Seaton lost a $10M lawsuit against the company in which he claimed that the ranking for his Grand Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, as "America's dirtiest hotel" was based on unsubstantiated rumors.
Tripadvisor was founded by Stephen Kaufer, Langley Steinert, Nick Shanny, and Thomas Palka in Feb 2000.
Kaufer has stated the original idea was not a user-generated social media review site:"We started as a site where we were focused more on those official words from guidebooks or newspapers or magazines.
We also had a button in the very beginning that said, ‘Visitors add your own review’, and boy, did that just take off."
The company was acquired by IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Acquired Smarter Travel Media, operator of SmarterTravel.com, BookingBuddy.com, SeatGuru.com, TravelPod.com, and TravelLibrary.com.
Acquired Where I've Been, a Chicago-based Facebook app.
Acquired LateGuru, an NYC-based flight and airport information mobile app for an undisclosed sum.
Acquired Jetsetter, an NYC flash sale site.
Acquired Mytable and Restopolis.
Acquired LaFourchette for $140M.
Acquired London-based travel community Tripbod, a travel website community.
Acquired Viator for $200M.
Acquired IENS, and SeatMe.
Announced a partnership with InterContinental Hotels Group.
Tripadvisor earned 33% of its revenues from Expedia Group and Booking Holdings and their subsidiaries.
Tripadvisor was named America's Best Midsize Employer by Forbes.
China has blocked Tripadvisor's mobile app from mobile app stores.
"Best Value" hotel rankings: To ensure travellers get the best value on great places to stay, hotels are now ranked and sorted based on a combination of several proprietary factors, including traveller ratings, hotel rates, booking popularity, brand affinity, and location.
Hotels on Tripadvisor. (via rezstream.com)A "Traveller Ranked" filter also remains available to help travellers search for top-rated hotels based on quality, quantity, and recency of reviews on the site.
Create Trips: Members are now able to create and access Trips, which is a collaborative way to privately plan and share ideas with friends and family. Trips can also be made public and shared with the community to inspire and help others.
360-degree photos: In addition to the more than 98 million candid traveller photos available on the site, new 360-degree photos give travellers a first-hand look inside hotels around the world.
360-degree photos on Tripadvisor. (via tripadvisor.com)Safe & secure booking: A vaulted credit card feature makes Tripadvisor's instant booking platform safe, easy and quick for users looking to save money on the right hotel room for them.
Sponsored Placements for restaurants, allowing owners to ‘sponsor’ a place at the top of their city search page. These paid-for ads automatically target qualified traffic searching options in the area.
Global content: Provides travelers with a comprehensive travel planning resource on-the-go with more than 150M user reviews and opinions of hotels, restaurants, and attractions, and more than 19M candid traveler photos, covering destinations around the globe.
Travel safe feature, Tripadvisor has come up with a new solution giving “diners more confidence to safely visit restaurants with Contactless Menus.” This feature is free to any restaurant that has added a menu link to its Tripadvisor listing
Travel safe. (via qrcode-tiger.com)Tripadvisor Flights
Tripadvisor Flights. (via tripadvisor.com)Instant Booking gives travelers all the information they need to book with you immediately on Tripadvisor. Share live rates and availability, convert browsers into bookings, and capture bookings directly.
Instant Booking on Tripadvisor. (via tripadvisor.com)
