News for the Hospitality Executive |
The HeBS Perspective:
Lessons from the TripAdvisor vs. Google Controversy
February 4,, 2011 In December 2010, TripAdvisor customer
reviews disappeared
from Google Places listings, causing a stir among hoteliers. Whereas a
previous
Google search for “hotels in West Hollywood” would have populated
Google Places
listings (among other results) with guests’ comments from TripAdvisor,
these customer
reviews suddenly disappeared from Places pages. The removal of these reviews was addressed
initially as a
“glitch” by Google, but was later confirmed by TripAdvisor as a
strategic
decision to block the search giant from streaming its content into the
popular
Places listings. Asserting that Google Places does not enhance the
“experience
of selecting the right hotel,” TripAdvisor blocked access to its
reviews and
stated it would further evaluate the situation as Google Places
continues to
evolve. Though the issue has not been resolved since
then, some TripAdvisor
customer reviews still appear occasionally in certain destinations.
(TripAdvisor
claims Google has refused its requests to stop using content from
TripAdvisor.com.) Content on Google Places, which is a recent
initiative by
Google to provide users with the richest and most relevant information
about
local businesses and entities, is far deeper and broader than any other
search
engine, yellow pages or data provider’s content. Ultimately, it will
provide a
major competitive advantage for Google on the mobile
Web.
Any online website monopoly functions
against the best
interests of the hospitality industry, and this should serve as a
wake-up call
for hoteliers to steer the traveling public toward other sites. Hotels
must resist
being held captive by TripAdvisor and refuse to remain at the mercy of one collection of opinions on one single
review site. Who are TripAdvisor’s closest competitors?
Aside from Online
Travel Agencies’ reviews, travelers consult Yahoo! Travel, Frommers,
TravelPost,
MyTravelGuide, Yelp, etc. These sites used to pale in comparison to
TripAdvisor’ influence; however, with the recent changes in content
streaming,
reviews from these sites are now much more highly visible on Google
Places pages.
The message from this Google-TripAdvisor
controversy is clear:
hoteliers need to focus their energies
away from TripAdvisor and help foster several viable competitors within
the
consumer review market. Here is how. Here is the HeBS
Perspective on the Subject: As TripAdvisor and Expedia flex their
muscles, so too must
hoteliers. Pro-active efforts to monitor, manage and respond to reviews
on
TripAdvisor alone are now wasted in the eyes of Google. Hoteliers must
acknowledge
other customer review sites deemed legitimate, relevant, search- and
user-friendly. Among others, the following sites stream
reviews to Google
Places: TravelPost.com, Yelp.com, Frommers.com, RandMcNally.com,
LATimes.com,
InsiderPages.com, HotelChatter.com, Travelocity.com, Hotels.com and
Priceline.com. Users can also review the hotel directly on its Google
Places
listing. So how can hoteliers take advantage of these
sites in order
to enhance their Google Places listings, which affect their local and
mobile marketing
strategies? Hoteliers must request and promote
publically accessible reviews on other consumer generated review sites
(except
for Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)) through eCRM, Guest Satisfaction
Surveys and
Customer Review Pages. Action Step #1: Implement electronic Customer Relationship
Management (eCRM)
cards asking guests to review your property on sites other than
TripAdvisor
(including your own). In your post-stay email, invite guests to
consider joining
the Frommers, Yelp and/or Rand McNally communities to discuss their
vacations
and their favorite things about your hotel. Concentrate on websites
with
publically accessible reviews that are easily viewed by users and
easily indexed
by search engines. This is one practical step in a long-term
strategy to lessen
TripAdvisor’s monopoly on customer review sites, and to enhance your
hotel’s
online visibility. Your post-stay email should also include a
link to your
website’s Guest Satisfaction Survey, explained in further detail under
Action
Plan #2. Action Step #2: Add a Guest Satisfaction Survey to your
hotel website that
includes a section for guests to share their experiences. For hotels with bad reviews on TripAdvisor
(whether fair or
not), a Guest Satisfaction Survey on the property website is a
blessing, rather
than the all-too-familiar TripAdvisor negative review kiss of death!
Allowing
guests to review your property directly on your site keeps them engaged
with
your hotel, avoids negative reviews on other sites and provides you
with
concrete operations feedback. Positive reviews can and should be used on
other channels,
including Facebook posts, Twitter tweets and Customer Reviews pages.
They add
additional consumer generated content to your social media profiles and
to your
website, rendering both of them more personal and engaging, and
increasing the
opportunity for direct revenues. Action Step #3: Include a Customer Reviews page on your
hotel website that poses
general questions about a guest’s stay and offers a rating systems and
a
comment box. After careful review, publish the top reviews and direct
site
visitors to this page. This page should also include links to your
hotel’s
profile on other top (non-OTA) review sites and should encourage guests
to continue
the conversation there. Name the page “Share Your Experience”; this
call-to-action
will let site visitors know their feedback is valuable, and that they
can
engage and interact with your hotel on its site at any time. HeBS Recommends: HeBS recommends that hoteliers resolve
to adopt 2011 as the year of multi-channel marketing to the
hyper-interactive
travel consumer. This includes using streamlined customer-centric
strategies across all available media—engaging, interacting with and
marketing
to travel consumers on all platforms, at all potential points of
purchase. In order to expand their reach, hoteliers
must make the necessary
efforts to communicate with guests where they are. No channel should be
ignored,
particularly any existing customer review site. In 2011, smart
hoteliers will
pro-actively request reviews from guests on both established and
up-and-coming
sites, join in the conversations, respond to comments and share them
with guests
on other media. If a guest leaves a positive comment on TripAdvisor,
ask him or
her to visit your profile on another site and consider leaving an
additional review.
Expose interested consumers to every up-to-par, optimized and branded
representation of your hotel online. Use each channel to compliment and
promote
the rest. HeBS’ perspective is that hoteliers need to
focus their
energies away from TripAdvisor and toward other Google-friendly review
sites. Google Places will become more
and more important as it focuses on local and mobile search.
TripAdvisor will
become less and less important as smart hoteliers acknowledge other
recognized,
relevant and overlooked customer review sites—and the ignored customers
interacting with them. Whether or not Google Places and TripAdvisor
reconcile—whether
or not TripAdvisor’s members’ reviews fully return to Google Places
listings—shrewd
hoteliers will understand the implications behind these bold changes
and will
act on them. Lauren
DeGeorge is Senior Account Executive at Hospitality eBusiness
Strategies
(HeBS). HeBS is an award-winning, full-service Internet marketing and
Direct
Online Channel Strategy firm, strictly dedicated to the hospitality and
travel
verticals. Having pioneered many of the "best practices" in hotel
Internet marketing and direct online distribution, HeBS specializes in
helping
hoteliers profit from the Direct Online Channel and transform their
websites
into the hotel’s chief and most-effective distribution channel,
establish
interactive relationships with their customers, and significantly
increase
direct online bookings and ROIs. Visit us online at www.hospitalityebusiness.com
A
diverse client portfolio of over 500 top tier major hotel brands,
luxury and
boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies,
franchisees, independents, and CVBs has sought and successfully taken
advantage
of HeBS’ hospitality Internet marketing expertise. Contact HeBS
consultants at
(212)752-8186 or [email protected]. |
Contact: Mariana Mechoso Safer Hospitality eBusiness Strategies, Inc. 6 W. 48th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10036 Phone 212-752-8186 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.hospitalityebusiness.com
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