TripAdvisor wins appeal against Italian fine for misleading reviews

MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian court has cancelled a fine against online travel company TripAdvisor for allegedly publishing misleading information in its reviews, overturning an order by the country's competition authority.

TripAdvisor, a website that gathers reviews of hotels and restaurants from its users, was fined 500,000 euros ($550,450) last year by the competition watchdog following an investigation into whether it took appropriate measures to avoid publishing false opinions while presenting them as genuine.

However the U.S. company appealed against the decision, and the fine was overturned by a Rome-based administrative court. The ruling, which was seen by Reuters, was made available to the parties involved in the case on Monday.

In an emailed statement on Tuesday, TripAdvisor said it was satisfied with the ruling which it said confirmed that it did not mislead readers regarding the source of its reviews. It added that the processes it used to maintain the integrity of its content were extremely effective.

($1 = 0.9083 euros)

(Reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Pravin Char)