Google Vacation Rental Partners Diverge on Whether to Name Guests in Reviews

Airbnb, TripAdvisor, and Holiday Lettings are active participants in Google’s year-old vacation rentals feature, but they have a curious approach to guest reviews on the platform — no usernames. If you read a guest review of an Airbnb-provided vacation rental listing on Google’s travel pages in Chicago, London, or Bangkok, all of the reviews seemingly come from what is labeled as an “Airbnb.com reviewer” instead of Hazel P. or Betty M., for instance. That’s a sterile approach to user-generated content, but perhaps it is a strategic move. Why hand Google the more personalized experience with reviewers that guests might enjoy on Airbnb or TripAdvisor?