Copying OTA reviews to your Website

Property Management Companies (PMCs) often want to showcase guest feedback on their own websites. While reviews from platforms like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo are valuable, it’s important to understand the limitations and best practices around reposting them to avoid potential legal or contractual issues.

Below is a guide on what's allowed and what to avoid when using OTA reviews on your own website.

Terms of use
Most OTAs include clauses in their terms of service that prohibit copying or reproducing content, including guest reviews, without explicit permission.

• Airbnb specifically restricts the scraping, copying, or republishing of content (including reviews) outside its platform. More infomation can be found here: Terms of Service - Section 11
• Vrbo and Booking.com have similar restrictions, particularly around using reviews for commercial gain or display outside of approved environments.
• Important: Copying reviews word-for-word without consent may breach the OTA’s terms and expose your business to compliance issues.

Manual quoting with attribution
PMCs can manually include short excerpts from OTA reviews on their website as long as it's done fairly and clearly states where the review came from. This is generally considered acceptable under “fair use” guidelines.

If quoting reviews manually:

• Avoid copying full reviews word-for-word.
• Do not alter or misrepresent the review’s meaning.

This approach allows you to showcase guest sentiment while respecting the original platform’s guidelines.

OTA reviews cannot be displayed automatically
You cannot use scraping tools, unofficial plugins, or unapproved APIs to automatically display OTA reviews on your website. 

• Airbnb strictly prohibits automatic access to reviews through APIs or third-party tools.
• Booking.com may offer approved widgets or tools that allow limited use of reviews, but these are controlled and not customisable.
• Vrbo does not offer public-facing review widgets or API access for display purposes.

If you're unsure whether a tool is approved, check with your OTA provider before using it.

Best practice recommendation
To highlight guest feedback while staying compliant:

• Select standout quotes manually.
• Attribute the quote to the correct platform and timeframe (e.g. “5-star review from Vrbo, April 2025”).
• Summarize the sentiment if needed, rather than quoting the full review
• Encourage guests to leave direct reviews on your website or Google Business Profile. These reviews are fully under your control and free of OTA restrictions. 

Request direct reviews from happy OTA guests
The most effective way to achieve this in Homhero, is by setting up an automated schedule that triggers after a guest has departed and left a review with a specific star rating (e.g. 4 stars or higher). You’ll then need to configure the schedule by applying the "Review Rating" filter and setting the "Booking Source" to the OTA's this applies to. This ensures the schedule only targets reviews that meet your preferred rating criteria from those specific platforms.

For more info on how to set up an automated schedule, please view our knowledge base article: Adding a New Correspondence Schedule.

Summary

Please note: This article provides general guidance based on information gathered from OTA providers. Policies and permissions regarding review usage may change, so we strongly recommend contacting each OTA directly for the most up-to-date and detailed requirements before displaying their reviews on your website.

If you're unsure about how to proceed, please check with your OTA provider or contact Homhero Support.