Licensed Dive Boats

[Christi]

Christi mentioned they buy them (to replace what has been used) as needed. I think the dive ops refrain from using them to refrain from buying them. It would appear like it's money in their pockets if they don't use them. I could care less, either way. I just like to point out to dive ops that are critical of others that they might not be completely towing the line.

Nope - not money in anyone's pockets because we are accountable for them regardless. For example - if we run out of bracelets on a Friday and can't buy them until Monday, then when we buy them on Monday, they retain what we used during the weekend. Regardless, I can't imagine a dive op trying to profit from the MP bracelets, we are always accountable for them and not buying bracelets is not worth risking our permits over.

 

[Sloeber]

Just google “Buying TripAdviser Reviews”. and you will find dozens of service that will happily sell any business positive reviews! Of course there are lots of honest folks that take time and post detailed reviews but for me it’s getting hard to tell the difference between the real ones and the purchased reviews.
I am incredibly disappointed that Undercurrent released such an inaccurate statement about Cozumel. My subscription is up for renewal in January, I guess I will let them know how I feel by not renewing.

You can Google it and get many options, but they are all a scam. TA is well aware of these options and they are blocked. Within minutes of the reviews getting submitted they are removed and your account is penalized. I don't think this is a problem for TA or it's user to worry about.

More to the point, however, is using real people for reviews. For example, my Facebook friends number over 1000. There isn't anything stopping me from begging my 1000 friends from leaving me a review. Or even posting reviews I personally wrote for them to post. And as they are legitimate people, the reviews are accepted and no one is the wiser. This is how the now defunct Dive Bros got themselves into the top 5.

 

[Snoweman]

You can Google it and get many options, but they are all a scam. TA is well aware of these options and they are blocked. Within minutes of the reviews getting submitted they are removed and your account is penalized. I don't think this is a problem for TA or it's user to worry about.

More to the point, however, is using real people for reviews. For example, my Facebook friends number over 1000. There isn't anything stopping me from begging my 1000 friends from leaving me a review. Or even posting reviews I personally wrote for them to post. And as they are legitimate people, the reviews are accepted and no one is the wiser. This is how the now defunct Dive Bros got themselves into the top 5.

Do you think this guy had 1000 friends to help him?

I Made My Shed The #1 Restaurant In London

 

[Sloeber]

Do you think this guy had 1000 friends to help him?

I Made My Shed The #1 Restaurant In London

Technically he only needs one well-networked friend. Isn't that exactly how Instagram influencers work?

Doesn't change my point. I have 2000+ in LinkedIn, 2000 in Instagram, and so on. A little networking with friends could easily make those numbers exponential. I would need only 10 friends per day (hardly a challenge) to post a review for me and within 2 months I'd be at the number 1 spot in Cozumel. All without using scam services that don't work (which was the point).

 

[DandyDon]

Do you think this guy had 1000 friends to help him?

I Made My Shed The #1 Restaurant In London

He used plenty of fakery.

 

[Snoweman]

Technically he only needs one well-networked friend. Isn't that exactly how Instagram influencers work?

Doesn't change my point. I have 2000+ in LinkedIn, 2000 in Instagram, and so on. A little networking with friends could easily make those numbers exponential. I would need only 10 friends per day (hardly a challenge) to post a review for me and within 2 months I'd be at the number 1 spot in Cozumel. All without using scam services that don't work (which was the point).

Ok. So how does this lend any sort of credibility to tripadvisor? I could swear you were defending TA by saying the "fake" reviews are easily found and removed.

 

[Sloeber]

Ok. So how does this lend any sort of credibility to tripadvisor? I could swear you were defending TA by saying the "fake" reviews are easily found and removed.

I'm not defending TA in any shape. I'm simply stating the paid services are outed very quickly by their software and are nothing but a money scam, while other means are easily passed through their system.

The problem is, for a business owner like myself, its just one more outlet that we either participate in or fall behind on. We ask every one of our departing divers for a review. I've managed to generate 198 reviews in almost 3 years. That's about 5-6 reviews per month, which has gotten me onto the first page of the results for Cozumel Outdoor Activities. We do get a fair amount of inquires and bookings direct from TA. So as much as I may disagree with the overall principal, I'd be foolish to not partake. It's free marketing! And a very popular platform at that.

But it's a double edged sword. Anyone that finds me through TA is probably more likely to leave me an honest review, good or bad. If they are using TA they probably believe in the system (see above I think it was CajunDiva?). So keeping Top 10 may not be so easy I guess. I don't know the algorithm they use, obviously, but I'd guess if we earned ourselves a 1-star or 2-star review we'd also drop out of the Top 10 immediately. So if there was a company getting illegitimate 5-star reviews, once they start earning that TA referral business they could very well drop out just as quickly.

 

[Snoweman]

I'm not defending TA in any shape. I'm simply stating the paid services are outed very quickly by their software and are nothing but a money scam, while other means are easily passed through their system.

The problem is, for a business owner like myself, its just one more outlet that we either participate in or fall behind on. We ask every one of our departing divers for a review. I've managed to generate 198 reviews in almost 3 years. That's about 5-6 reviews per month, which has gotten me onto the first page of the results for Cozumel Outdoor Activities. We do get a fair amount of inquires and bookings direct from TA. So as much as I may disagree with the overall principal, I'd be foolish to not partake. It's free marketing! And a very popular platform at that.

But it's a double edged sword. Anyone that finds me through TA is probably more likely to leave me an honest review, good or bad. If they are using TA they probably believe in the system (see above I think it was CajunDiva?). So keeping Top 10 may not be so easy I guess. I don't know the algorithm they use, obviously, but I'd guess if we earned ourselves a 1-star or 2-star review we'd also drop out of the Top 10 immediately. So if there was a company getting illegitimate 5-star reviews, once they start earning that TA referral business they could very well drop out just as quickly.

So, you're saying your 1,000+ friends on FB and another social media site have nothing to do with your TA rating? I'm getting really confused here.

 

[Sloeber]

Sorry for confusing you. I think you immediately read my comments as defending TA and rather than try to understand what I was saying you got ready to rebuke me.

I'm saying anyone that cares to network themselves can easily get themselves as many reviews as they need or want. I could ask my 1000 FB friends each for a review and have 1000 reviews within 24 hours. Well I'd guess some sort of red flag would go off for 1000 reviews in 24 hours, but the point is the same. All the reviews would be illegitimate and TA wouldn't know because they were real people putting in the review, not some computer program creating profiles and spamming reviews. The paid scams don't work because of TA software in place to detect and remove it, but if you network yourself properly there's no way TA can detect it.

If you have a spare hour give a watch the Netflix documentary called Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened. It's a true story of someone that used social media to promote an ill-prepared festival as being the greatest thing - but it wasn't. Just 2 or 3 Instagram influencers was all it took to start the ball rolling. By the end thousands of tickets were sold, multiple investors were ripped off millions of dollars, and the promoter created a $26 million dollar fraud. It's actually a good watch to see how gullible society is to social media influence. If one dude can use social media to generate $26 million for a ******** festival, you sure as heck can use it to get yourself 1,000 TA reviews.