Comparing Google reviews and TripAdvisor to help researchers select the more appropriate information source

Purpose The purpose of this research is to identify not only the potential but also the limitations of Google reviews compared to TripAdvisor that may help researchers select the more appropriate information source. Design/methodology/approach The 10 most visited museums and theme parks in Europe were selected for this study. A total of 23,756 theme park reviews and 22,750 museum reviews were extracted from Google and TripAdvisor in November 2022 using the Octoparse tool. In a second round of data collection, reviews on Easter week 2023 were collected for the same destinations. Findings TripAdvisor offers a more comprehensive and accessible source of information compared to Google. However, the findings clearly indicate that Google has greater potential to accumulate reviews. The data also confirms that destinations tend to have higher ratings on Google than on TripAdvisor. Practical implications The research identifies a critical limitation in Google’s review system – a cap of 1,140 viewable and downloadable reviews per destination – posing a significant hindrance to researchers. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study providing a reasoned explanation for the limited scientific literature in tourism that uses Google reviews as a database. It offers a balanced comparison between TripAdvisor and Google that allows researchers to make a more reasoned decision regarding which information source to use depending on the study focus, the method and the data to be collected.