Start-up TWISPER ‘reassures’ TripAdvisor after unfair competition claim

Swiss firms says it is ‘honoured’ to be considered competition by reviews giant

Travel review start-up TWISPER has issued a tongue in cheek reassurance to global giant and rival TripAdvisor after being accused of unfair competition.

The Swiss firm has been accused of using “some characteristics” of TripAdvisor’s iconic owl identity and of having referred to the dominant reviews platform in advertising.

TWISPER says it is only interested in bring more transparency and fairness to the hospitality and catering reviews sector and building a “positive community” that is revolutionising inline travel.

Referring to itself as the “David” on social travel platforms, TWISPER said it was honoured “to be considered as an actual competitor by the giant TripAdvisor”.

Antonio Canton, co-founder, said: “We have absolutely nothing against owls or people who wants to stay anonymous.

“We just want to bring back fairness and positivity to the hospitality sector with a bit of humour, and we apologise if TripAdvisor doesn’t appreciate this.

“Nevertheless, cheers to positivity, fairness, owls and all kinds of birds, but first and foremost, cheers to our users, their friends and to all businesses in the hospitality and gastronomy industries.

“During the confinement, we need all the positivity and happiness, after all.”

In a response, TripAdvisor said: “Like most famous brands, Tripadvisor takes action when we discover companies trying to make a name for themselves by improperly using our trademarks or brand.

“Further, as Tripadvisor has publicly disclosed, the vast majority of fake reviews are positive reviews submitted in an effort to promote a business – a fact that should be concerning for a website hosting only positive reviews, and without the technology or experience developed from collecting hundreds of millions of reviews over 20 years.”

TWISPER says it operates a 100% data privacy policy so no business is done with user data and it is “heavily invested in helping businesses in the gastronomy and hospitality sectors, as everything is done to help them improve and boost their digital image”.

The platform claims that no bad comments, ratings, fake profiles or ad system are able to manipulate and interfere with the recommendations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic TWISPER has launched a campaign to support businesses as they face the current crisis.

It is offering 10,000 Pro subscriptions with one-year free access to its business platform and all premium features in order to help businesses promote their activity via digital word of mouth and to take back control of their online image.

Businesses can access the offer by using the promo code “POSITIVE” on TWISPER Business.