Thursday, September 19, 2024 — Earlier this week, the Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) hosted a virtual webinar featuring experts from Wiley Rein, LLC to offer information and insights about the FTC’s final rule on combatting fake and deceptive reviews and what it means for travel technology companies.
The panelists provided an overview of the FTC’s final rule, focusing on what constitutes a deceptive practice and the enforcement actions the government is taking to combat AI-generated fake reviews. The panelists also covered the rule’s prohibitions on buying positive or negative reviews, the new standards of liability for review sites, and best practices for spotting and reporting deceptive reviews.
The panelists also noted Travel Tech’s involvement in the final ruling, highlighting how the FTC adopted the Association’s recommendations as part of comments filed in response to the FTC’s then-proposed rule, urging the Commission to revise its “known or should have known” standard to avoid unduly burdening review platforms.
“Ensuring the integrity and reliability of reviews is critical to preserving consumer trust and confidence as they plan their travel, no matter the occasion or destination,” said Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of Travel Tech. “Travel Tech is pleased the FTC adopted our recommendations and is proud to continue working with our member companies to protect the integrity of their platforms and reviews.”
Panelists from Wiley Rein included Stephen Conley, Associate in Telecom, Media, and Technology; Duane Pozza, Partner; and Kathleen Scott, Partner and featured remarks from Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of the Travel Technology Association.
The webinar recording is exclusively available to Travel Tech members. For more information about membership, please reach out to Bethany Reitsma.
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The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024 —
Reviews are crucial to the travel industry, helping consumers choose between competing options. With the advent of generative AI, efforts to police the authenticity of such reviews have become far more challenging.
While deceptive reviews have always been illegal, last month, the Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule spelling out clearly deceptive practices, strengthening enforcement actions, and banning AI-generated fake reviews.
Join Travel Tech on Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, at 1:00 pm for a free webinar featuring attorneys Stephen Conley, Duane Pozza, and Kathleen Scott of Wiley for a deep dive into the FTC’s new final rule and what it means for you and your travel tech company.
“Travel Tech is pleased the FTC adopted our recommendation regarding the “knew or should have known” standard for review hosting platforms. Doing so reflects that the rule is targeting bad actors that intend to commit fraud through fake reviews,” saidLaura Chadwick, President and CEO of the Travel Technology Association.
“The integrity of reviews is essential to maintaining the trust and confidence of customers as they plan their travel near and far. Travel Tech members invest significant resources in robust trust and safety operations to protect the reliability of the reviews appearing on their platforms.”
Last year, Travel Tech submitted comments in response to the FTC’s then-proposed rule, urging the Commission to revise its “know or could have known” standard to avoid unduly burdening review platforms. In the Final Rule, the Commission wrote that “…the most appropriate standard for imposing liability under § 465.2(b)…is the “knew or should have known standard.” As discussed above, those paragraphs were not intended to apply to consumer review hosting and § 465.2(d)(2) now contains an explicit exemption for consumer review hosting.”
The FTC’s Final Rule also prohibits the sale or purchase of fake or deceptive reviews and allows the agency to seek civil penalties against knowing violators. It bans company-controlled review websites, review suppression, insider reviews and consumer testimonials, and misuse of fake social media indicators, among other provisions.
Travel Tech will host a free industry webinar, “#1 Five Star Webinar: Unpacking the New FTC Rule on Fake and Deceptive Reviews” on Tuesday, September 17th featuring attorneys Stephen Conley, Duane Pozza, and Kathleen Scott of Wiley. Register here.
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The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents travel technology innovators ranging from dynamic startups, small, and midsize businesses to leading online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
In its comments, Travel Tech details its members’ significant investments in robust trust and safety operations to protect the reliability of the reviews appearing on their platforms. Travel Tech expresses its support for the Commission’s efforts in the proposed rule to target those intent on committing fraud through fake or deceptive reviews.
“FTC has achieved the right balance in its proposed rule to target bad actors while preserving industry flexibility to develop innovative and effective solutions that will help to maintain consumer confidence in reviews,” said Laura Chadwick, President and CEO. “Travel Tech members invest significant resources in robust trust and safety operations to protect the reliability of the reviews appearing on their platforms.”
Examples of Travel Tech members’ commitments to protecting travelers from fraudulent reviews include:
Establishing and enforcing community standards;
A multi-step process for pre-screening reviews to ensure they meet community standards before reviews are made public;
Being attuned to potential fraud triggers, such as travel during large events in less traveled markets;
Imposing penalties for fraud, including de-platforming fraudsters
Working with governments to prosecute fraudsters;
Collaborating to identify and promote industry best practices;
Being transparent via review transparency reports about policies and progress enforcing those policies; and
Employing fraudulent-review detection systems and teams.
The Travel Technology Association (Travel Tech) empowers traveler choice by advocating for public policy that promotes marketplace transparency and competition. Travel Tech represents the leading innovators in travel technology, including online travel agencies, metasearch engines, short-term rental platforms, global distribution systems, and travel management companies.
To schedule an interview with a Travel Tech spokesperson, contact Bradford Williamson of Glen Echo Group at 202.870.3234 or bwilliamson@glenechogroup.com.
On Monday, January 9, 2023, the Travel Technology Association filed comments with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the value of first-hand, timely traveler reviews. The comments, in response to FTC’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, focus on how consumers benefit from the ability to make informed choices when considering travel plans.
The comments state in part that “…Reviews or other quality rankings are often incorporated into search results to help consumers find, compare, assess, and book travel-related services based on a variety of factors, including value, quality, and safety. Consumers greatly value these services, and they are a key driver for travel planning and decision-making…”
In the filing, Travel Tech also encourages the FTC to “…utilize its existing authority to combat bad actors that employ the increasingly nefarious paid review-generation sites…” or “click farms.”
December 21, 2024 – Laura Chadwick, President and CEO of the Travel Technology Association, released the following statement regarding the removal of the Hotel Fees Transparency Act (S.2498) along with other commerce-related bills from the Continuing Resolution passed by Congress late Friday night: “Travel Tech is disappointed that Congress did not include the Hotel Fees […]
