Is TripAdvisor.com one big joke?

TripAdvisor, the popular hotel review site, which in theory is a gold mine for shared information, boasts some 25 million views a month, and although it isn't responsible for writing positive reviews to promote any one property, its messy, user-generated system is increasingly under fire for fomenting propaganda.

The objections are piling on so quickly that the Web site has placed disclaimers on at least 92 hotel pages (click here to see one). "TripAdvisor has reasonable cause to believe that either this property or individuals associated with the property may have attempted to manipulate our popularity index by interfering with the unbiased nature of our reviews. Please take this into consideration when researching your travel plans."

To the site's watchdogs, which include Arthur Frommer and BeatofHawaii.com, it was like an admission of guilt. TripAdvisor, they allege, has fallen victim to desperately self-promoting hotels that have successfully learned to pad the reviews, trashing the purpose of the whole site.