The Virginia Defamation Law Blog
Kenneth M. Seaton, sole proprietor of the Grant Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, brought a defamation action against TripAdvisor after the hotel was identified by the travel site as the dirtiest hotel in America. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, however, found that TripAdvisor’s list of “2011 Dirtiest Hotels” could not support a defamation claim and dismissed the case on August 22, 2012.
TripAdvisor relies solely on customer reviews to compile its “Dirtiest Hotels” list – it does not conduct an independent investigation of each hotel. Seaton claimed that TripAdvisor attempted to assure the public that its list is factual, reliable and trustworthy by including the following statements along with its list: (1) “World’s Most Trusted Travel Advice”; (2) “TripAdvisor lifts the lid on America’s Dirtiest Hotels”; (3) “Top 10 U.S. Crime-Scenes Revealed, According to Traveler Cleanliness Ratings”; (4) “Now, in its sixth year, and true to its promise to share the whole truth about hotels to help travelers plan their trips, TripAdvisor names and shames the nation’s most hair-raising hotels”; (5) “This year, the tarnished title of America’s dirtiest hotel goes to Grand Resort Hotel and Convention Center, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.” The list quoted a TripAdvisor user: “There was dirt at least ½ inch thick in the bathtub which was filled with lots of dark hair.” The list also featured a photograph of a ripped bedspread.
Defamation claims require proof of false statements or false implications. Seaton contended that by publishing its “2011 Dirtiest Hotels” list, TripAdvisor was implying that the Grand Resort Hotel and Convention Center was, in fact, the dirtiest hotel in the United States and that a reasonable person reading the list would consider this supposed fact in making their travel plans. Seaton argued that the list was not mere hyperbole because it 
contained actual numerical rankings with comments suggesting that the rankings were based in actual fact.
The court agreed that a reasonable person might consider the list when making hotel plans, but found that “propensity to initiate negative mental contemplation on behalf of a potential patron” is not the test for defamation. In determining whether TripAdvisor’s list is defamatory, the court would not consider whether the list is compelling but rather whether a reasonable person could understand the language in question as an assertion of fact or instead merely hyperbolic opinion or rhetorical exaggeration.
The court found that neither the fact that TripAdvisor numbered its opinions one through ten nor that it supported its opinions with data converts its opinions to objective statements of fact. A reasonable person would not confuse a ranking system based on consumer reviews for an objective assertion of fact. Rather, a reasonable person would know that the list reflected the opinions of TripAdvisor’s online users. Seaton did not plead any facts that would lead the court to find that TripAdvisor made a statement of fact or of opinion that it intended readers to believe was based on facts. Finally, the court found that although unverified online user reviews are a poor evaluative method, the system is not sufficiently erroneous so as to be labeled defamatory. For these reasons, the court held that TripAdvisor’s “Dirtiest Hotels” list is unverifiable rhetorical hyperbole and could not form the basis of a defamation action.