TripAdivsor (NASDAQ:TRIP) this week released its first ever Transparency Report, which details how it is working to combat fake reviews.
According to its findings:
155 million -- Number of content submissions in 2018
66 million -- Number of reviews
4.22 -- Average review out of 5.
2.7 million -- Reviews that were tagged for screening
4.7% -- Amount of reviews rejected
2.1% -- Reviews thought to be fraudulent
73% -- Reviews tagged as fraudulent that were rejected before posting.
"While we are winning the fight against fake reviews on
TripAdvisor
, we can only protect our corner of the Internet. As long as other review platforms aren't taking aggressive action, then fraudsters will continue to exploit and extort small businesses for cash. It is time other platforms like
Google
and
Facebook
stepped up to the plate to join us in tackling this problem head on," said
Becky Foley
, senior director of trust & safety at
TripAdvisor
in a statement.
The report comes after a British watchdog group claimed that 1 in 7 of the reviews on TripAdvisor's site were faked. TripAdvisor disputes that claim.
TORq wins Babson $100k pitch competition
Joanna Geisinger (L), founder and CEO of TORq Interface with Babson President Stephen Spinelli (C) and Jamie Siminoff (R).
TORq Interface, a platform that connects hospitals and medical device representatives to streamline surgical scheduling won Babson's $100k pitch challenge, a key event in the Babson Centennial celebration that took place last week. Founder Joanna Geisinger used the event to launch the company out of stealth mode.
TORq beat out text messaging learning platform Arist and estate planning platform Gentreo.
Judges included Jamie Siminoff, CEO and chief inventor of Ring; Tim Chae, general partner, 500 Startups; Diane Hessan, founder and chairman of C Space; Fred Kiang, founder of Sunrise Duty Free; Alicia Castillo Holley, founder and CEO of Wealthing Institute and member of Sand Hill Angels; and Edward Marram, entrepreneur and senior lecturer at Babson.
Massive changes are coming to Needham Street and Highland Ave, our main commercial district. Now is the time to understand what's happening. On Friday Sept. 27 at 8am, the Newton-Needham Regional Chamber will host a presentation by MassDOT to explain the project and timeline. Register in advance.
Octoberfest at the Biltmore
Celebrate Octoberfest at the Biltmore! It happens on Thursday, September 28 from 6pm to 9pm. Tickets are $30 in advance and include all samples of Oktoberfest beer, a pint of your choosing, an automatic entry into our raffle and a discount off of any food!
Nominations opened for Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards
The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (The ILC) opened nominations for the 2019 Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards to be held on October 29, 2018, at the Royal Sonesta Boston. The Awards honor immigrants who founded businesses in Massachusetts in four categories: Business Growth, Neighborhood Business, High-Tech Business and Life Science Business.
Nominations are due by September 2 and can come from anyone.
Nominees must be a foreign-born founder of a business headquartered in Massachusetts and founded in 2015 or earlier.
