Yesterday we reported there was a problem with TripAdvisor reviews showing in Google Places, and said Google promised to fix the issue.
We were informed later that TripAdvisor is actually intentionally blocking Google from crawling and indexing their reviews. Tnooz.com reports that TripAdvisor is doing this intentionally.
Tnooz.com said:
TripAdvisor confirmed the move today in an email, stating that while it continues to evaluate recent changes to Google Places it believes the user does not benefit with the experience of selecting the right hotel.As a result, we have currently limited TripAdvisor content available on those pages, an official says.
Wow! Good for them!
Later on, Google confirmed the issue with Tnooz but didn't say they were being blocked intentionally. All they told them was:
Were aware of a technical issue in which TripAdvisor reviews are sometimes not appearing in results for Google Places, and our team is working to resolve the matter. We are not currently requiring review verification, and you can find our review policies and guidelines here.
So which is it? Is it Google being blocked or a technical issue. Seems like Google is being blocked intentionally, which means technically Google has an issue accessing those reviews.
Forum discussion at Sphinn and Google Places Help.
