Likewise for you.

Too general Ishmael. The unique selling point of TripAdvisor and similar sites is that their reviews are not planted by hotel companies etc. but represent the views of countless ordinary travellers. If they can't police this then their brand suffers. Actually I suspect they're well aware of this. Whether they put enough effort into cleaning their sites or if it is even possible is another matter. To Tiger I'd say I've no idea of the legal position on responsibility for content but the sites themselves must see the importance of credibility. It's crucial to their business.

@cloudtrapezer: Too general only if they're not getting paid to allow what they are allowing - and yeah, maybe they're not, in which case it's the hotel companies who are the target of my screed... "know yr enemy" (so who ARE these f**kers, anyway?)
You're saying they're shooting themselves in the foot - could be.
Credibility indeed would be nice - perhaps they're all shooting each other.

i never cease to be amazed by yer niavity

Maybe you're right, it just occurred to me that Tripadviser might be paid to allow this - guess that's unlikely, huh?

I rarely use Tripadvisor anyway, and never for restaurants, tend to use my gut or hearsay from friends, but are there better alternatives for those who feel the need for a restaurant guide to Kunming? I might possibly look at gokunming reviews, for example.

Or do all restaurant guides to Kunming, or elsewhere, get packed by big hotels etc.? Tiger seems to think so - obviously one has to be cautious with paid advertisements - which, just as obviously, have a general effect overall, or else money doesn't talk.

Erm? No I don't.

@tiger: OK, well, I reread your posts, seemed that was what you were saying - "you can pay to get bumped" - must have misunderstood, like you said - maybe you can clarify? Anyway, I didn't understand what you meant about 'card carrying' revenue - is Tripadvisor 'card-carrying'?. Is this some Internet jargon. of which I'm ignorant (I'm ignorant of most of it, to be honest).

@ishmael you saying 'tend to use my gut or hearsay from friends' are not really applicable to newbies to a city like Kunming and can lead to some very tender gut issues ;o)
Everyone knows ratings (for anything) are not 100% true but if you haven't been somewhere that's not the norm, you may want some kind of insight even if you know what you're seeing is laced with the odd propped up listing.

I'll never 100% trust any reviews for anything but they at least give me some semblance of knowledge where before I might have had Zero.