Remove fake hotel reviews from Google and Tripadvisor

We can file it, and Tripadvisor decides. Its review guidelines bar reviews from anyone who has ever worked at the property, from owners or staff of a property of the same type in the same town or within 10 miles, reviews based only on a brief phone call, reviews posted more than a year after the stay, and reviews that only dispute a stated policy such as a non-refundable rate. A harsh review of a real stay usually stays up. We read connected Google profiles ourselves but not Tripadvisor listings, so send us the review links in the chat. Tripadvisor’s 2025 Transparency Report says it rejected or removed 2.7 million fraudulent reviews in 2024, and 54% of that fraud was businesses boosting their own ranking.

Keep every message that shows the demand, and do not pay to stop or remove the review. Tripadvisor calls a bad-faith demand for something of value, backed by a threat of a negative review, blackmail, and can ban the user. A guest who says they will review a real problem, such as a broken pipe, is not blackmail. Expedia’s guidelines say travelers may not threaten a review to get a refund or extra compensation. Google’s Maps policy has no rule that names a guest’s threat, so a review of a real stay is judged on what it says. Offering a refund for removal also breaks the rules: Google and Tripadvisor both ban incentives for removing a negative review.

Review extortion is a scam, not a guest complaint. Google describes it as a sudden increase in 1-star and 2-star reviews followed by someone demanding money, goods or services to remove them. Google has a form for Business Profile owners to report it, and says not to engage with or pay the people involved. In April 2026 Google said it can remove the fake content, pause new reviews on the profile and alert the owner. We do not contact reviewers, and you pay for the ones that come down.

It depends on the platform. Tripadvisor lets guests mention travel agents, booking companies and online travel agencies, because travelers see them as partners of the hotel, so naming one is not a ground for removal. Tripadvisor does remove a review that only disputes a stated policy, such as no refund on a cancellation. Booking.com’s guidelines send complaints about Booking.com’s own service to its customer service team. Google asks for content based on the reviewer’s experience at that location, so a review only about a third-party site’s error can be filed as off-topic. Google decides. A review that describes the stay as well as the booking problem is a review of the stay.

Each site moderates its own reviews. They are not among the platforms on our site, so this answer describes their own process. Booking.com and Expedia take reviews only from guests who booked through them: Booking.com within 3 months of checkout, Expedia within six months of the stay. Expedia removes a review that is fake, is for the wrong property, or where there is evidence the guest did not attempt the booking, and a property disputes a review through the review dispute form in its partner tools. Vrbo, part of Expedia, publishes host and guest reviews of a stay together, or after 14 days if only one side writes. Booking.com says anyone who spots a suspicious review can report it to its customer service team.

You pay for the ones that come down. The platform decides on each review, and a review it keeps up shows as Could not be removed in your TrustOS portal.