Effects of the Booking.com scoring system

The methodology used in this paper compares values assigned on Booking.com with those on Priceline that have a conventional scoring system, and results show significant distortions, particularly in hotels with low and medium scores.

Abstract

Booking.com provides a large travellers' reviews database that is useful for consumers, hoteliers and academics. Recent research discovered unexpected peculiarities in its scoring system, suggesting it could lead to "inflated scores" for hotels on their website. To confirm the above suspicions, the methodology used in this paper compares values assigned on Booking.com with those on Priceline that have a conventional scoring system. Conclusions show significant distortions, particularly in hotels with low and medium scores.