It's fascinating to see the effects of the online review dynamic. One thing I noticed when traveling in Europe is how the behavior of small hotels has changed: they respond with incredible warmth and alacrity to small requests, in a way I never saw in the 90s or aughts. They know how powerful each little review on tripadvisor etc. is, and it's a good investment to them to take 5 minutes to be really nice when you bring up something that matters to you.
Basil Fawlty would be in a lot of trouble nowadays.
(Yes, i know you were making a very different point, but thought I'd mention it.)
@pieist But it's the same point because the helpful effect you're talking about is weakened, much diminished by fake reviews.
Yes. "Influencers" in particular exploit it aggressively. There's a lot of pushback against them now, but I'm not sure how to go about systematizing the response.
@pieist Why not make it illegal to sell fake reviews?
@JohnShirley2023 Indeed, but I can see some experienced lawyer in a DA's office somewhere holding his head and moaning as he tries to imagine a practical and proportionate investigation, enforcement and prosecution regime.
@pieist The thing to do is to make it a form of fraud, legally. Because it is a form of fraud.
It is so much, we shouldn't need new laws about it. Only rulings.
@pieist well the companies are out in the open. They're at the moment legal so they don't hide. So you can find them easily enough.