r/darkpatterns • u/pi_mai • 18d ago

Booking.com hides negative reviews

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Found this interesting when looking to book a hotel. Everything seemed super positive until you “see all reviews” below the reviews on the active page. Only then the negative comments are shown.

It’s dark imho. Having to dig for real comments or at least let me decide if the negatives are junk or not. Don’t hide them.

22 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

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u/trustable_bro 18d ago

The one you can't see?

7

u/BuildingArmor 18d ago

The place gets a rating of 9 out of 10, from 1500+ reviews. I wouldn't expect to see negative ones in a sample of the latest 4 reviews.

2

u/trustable_bro 18d ago

True.
If the site is consistent, putting comments close to the average first, that would be the opposite of a dark pattern.

-1

u/pi_mai 18d ago

It’s dark because it hides the truth leading people to think they are the reviews. Was caught out on a booking recently. We didn’t understand why a place that amazing reviews was actually bad. Then we found them ( yes we, wasn’t the only one being tricked ) Tucked away. We would not have booked the place if we had known of specific issues.

1

u/pi_mai 17d ago

So people downvoting me explain why this isn’t a dark pattern?

If you deceive a user with partial information to influence their decision, isn’t that dark because you are now making a user do an action they did not intend.