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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

TripAdvisor is changing the rules, now you pay for improved visibility

It seems TripAdvisor are adopting the Google model (similar to Google Ads). Unless hoteliers monitor how much business is incomming from this channel then they are better off gaining a generic ranking through consumer reviews.
The questions now for me to watch are, will TripAdvisor suffer from more, so called, "Black Hat" techniques, like more engineered friendly reviews and how will they deal with poorly reviewed hotels who are prepared to pay?
TripAdvisors business model was always open for a more commercialized option once Expedia wanted their ROI but now the field is open for other new review sites, with a more open model, to leverage this policy change. The financial business model will have to depend on a more "seen to be" independent method.
Perhaps we are seeing the beginning of the end for TripAdvisor as I know from my own experience I will not continue to review sites knowing that my efforts are for financial gain. My efforts have always been to improve the quality to the customer through "Voice of the Customer" feedback.
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Thursday, November 5, 2009

TripAdvisor and an improved uptake and trust

TripAdvisor would win so much more support from hoteliers if it would sort its consumer responses so they could be sorted into
1. the last 3 months reviews
2. the last 6 months reviews
3. the last years
4. the last 2 years
5. and the last 3 years
6. lastly a group of power users who have made more than 20 reviews - seasoned reviewers not those with an occasional quirky review.

Such sorting would allow users to see if today was better than yesterday and feel confident from experienced reviewers and travelors.

David Wood