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Content actions

Content verification and enforcement

Booking.com aims to reflect the most up-to-date reviews from our travellers. That’s why we have a fast turnaround on our content moderation.

The process of checking submitted reviews is as follows:

  • The first round of checks is performed by our machine learning algorithms – these could be accommodation reviews and photos shared by guests, replies written by partners, or other types of content. From the moment we receive a piece of content, it takes the algorithm only seconds to approve the content. That’s why the large majority of content is approved by our algorithms and is then published on Booking.com.
  • Content that wasn’t approved by the algorithms is routed to our team of moderators – when our algorithms identify potentially guideline-violating content, they send the content to our moderators for further review. We aim to review content within five business days and decide within that timeframe if it’s suitable to be published on Booking.com.
  • After a review was published, it can still be removed at a later date – this can happen because machine learning algorithms are performing ongoing checks every day.

Once approved, content is accessible via our platform and our apps. If our moderators deem that content violates one of our policies (including our content standards and guidelines) it won’t be published. Once a piece of content is removed, the decision can be appealed or a new version of the content can be submitted to us.

Appealing a moderation decision

When we remove a review, photo or other content item you've posted, we'll make sure to tell you why in a simple message. You can then edit your content to meet the standards set out in our guidelines or appeal the decision to remove your content, if you don’t agree with our moderation decision.

The appeal process

Once you’ve received a notification that states why your content was removed, you’ll be able to appeal the decision. To start the appeal, you can follow the link provided in the email letting you know your content was removed.

When you appeal the decision, our content moderators will review your content against our content guidelines once more and decide whether the content is appropriate to display on Booking.com. You’ll be notified of the outcome of our review by email.

Reporting content on Booking.com

At Booking.com, we work hard to maintain a platform filled with authentic travel experiences, appropriate for a global audience. If you ever come across illegal content on our platform please let us know. Your feedback is crucial in ensuring a secure environment for everyone. To report any content you think might be illegal, simply follow the link to our reporting form.

Enforcement procedures

Enforcement procedures for repeat offenders and spammers

If you breach our Terms and Conditions (including our values and content standards and guidelines) or fail to comply with applicable laws or regulations, we have the right to:

  • Stop you from making any bookings.
  • Cancel any bookings you’ve already made.
  • Block you from using our platform, contacting our Customer Service team and signing in to your account.

We take repeat violations of our content standards and guidelines seriously and have a strike system in place to protect against misuse of the service. Enforcement procedures are applied for each strike, progressively increasing in severity. Depending on the severity of the policy violation, we may apply different thresholds of penalty. You can appeal that decision, and we’ll review that appeal in light of the seriousness of the violation.

How our strike system works

  • Warning + first strike: You’ll receive a warning notification explaining why your content was removed and what content guideline was violated. You have an opportunity to submit an appeal if you disagree with our moderation decision. If you upload certain egregious content in violation of our content standards and guidelines (i.e. CSAM or terrorism-related content), we may permanently suspend your account after a single violation and without warning.
  • Second strike: If you get another strike within 90 days of your first strike, your account will be temporarily suspended, preventing you from posting any new content. After two weeks, we’ll reactivate your account.
  • Third strike: If you get a third strike within 90 days of your first strike, we’ll suspend your account.

Enforcement procedures for abusive flaggers

We also don’t tolerate abusive reporting through our reporting and appeal processes. This includes (but is not limited to) multiple reports or appeals about the same topic, and irrelevant or unfounded requests not related to content on our platform. Reporting content or listings you think might be illegal, disagree with or seem inappropriate doesn’t guarantee the removal of the content. We assess each report on a case-by-case basis and take appropriate action when it violates our Terms and Conditions (including our values and content standards and guidelines).

We reserve the right to take action against spammers and abusive flaggers, including disabling access to reporting and/or appeals processes or refusing to action abusive reports and/or appeals.

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