TripAdvisor Forcing Hotels To Link To Them?

Sep 1, 2011 • 9:06 am | comments (11) by | Filed Under Link Building Tips & SEO
 

TripAdvisor LogoA WebmasterWorld thread has a post from a member I trust. The post is about TripAdvisor's listing policies requiring those who want a listing to link back to TripAdvisor's web site.

He wrote:

I run a website for a small hotel that has just been fully refurbished and they applied to TripAdvisor UK today to be listed/linked etc.

That's fine, they said, however they would need a reciprocal link from the hotel.

It's a non-issue and has already been done however I was wondering whether this is their new way of building backlinks as a defense against current and future Panda updates.

It would make sense, has anyone else heard of such requests/demands?

TripAdvisor has a linking information page with detailed instructions on how they want you to link to them. Clearly, there is no nofollow attribute in there.

Tnooz ran a story showing that most of the listings on TripAvisor do not have links from TripAdvisor back to the hotel.

In any event, requiring a reciprocal link, if true, is a bit risky for TripAdvisor.

We know TripAdvisor and Google have had their fights in the past - will this lead to one more?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Previous story: Do You Have Too Much Search Traffic?
Ninja Banner
 
blog comments powered by Disqus