Tag Archive: Reviews

Is Amazon Too Late to the Fake Review Crack Down?

by October 21, 2015 9:42 am

Articles about how to spot a fake travel review are a dime a dozen, but in this consumer-driven, instant-access economy, the onus simply can’t be on the buyer to detect fraudulent reviews. Without the bandwidth—or let’s face it, the desire—to do the legwork, consumers will gravitate toward sources that offer the most-trustworthy reviews.   Amazon knows this. Last Friday, the company took its second round of legal action this year against fraudulent reviewers in an effort to prevent degradation of its brand—and, clearly, to keep the consumers coming. This is certainly one way to do it, though notably reactive.  … read more »

Greece, Google, & Good Content

by July 7, 2015 10:42 am

Over the weekend I decided to plan a big, belated birthday trip, and the world really is my oyster. I have no one else to compromise with on destination or accommodations. My inspiration was a Travel & Leisure article about inexpensive flights, including flights from NY to Milan. This, of course, led to a lot of flitting around the internet researching the many different destinations I might enjoy, and now here I am researching a trip to Skiathos, Greece and weighing all the pro’s and con’s of the political situation alongside getting to check the Greek Isles off my travel… read more »

Understanding Which Hotel Attributes Prompt Travelers to Book

by July 1, 2015 8:49 am

Review data has a significant impact on travelers’ booking decisions. In fact, 95% of travelers read reviews, according to a recent TrustYou study. But what hotel attributes mentioned within reviews actually prompt a traveler to book? We’ve worked in conjunction with Donna Quadri-Felitti, Director of the School of Hospitality Management at Pennsylvania State University to understand just that. Using heat-mapping technology, we analyzed key factors like cleanliness, service, WiFi, etc. to see which attributes have the biggest impact on travelers’ booking decisions. The study is available for free download here. Findings show the complexity of the booking process. To be… read more »

Using Travel Reviews In Your Hotel’s Content Strategy

by May 14, 2015 8:03 am

Have a look at any hotel marketing strategy, and the words content marketing will appear with almost 100% certainty. In 2015, content marketing is virtually synonymous with SEO. This is largely because traditional optimization techniques like keyword-rich copy and link building are now ubiquitous. Otherwise put, the search engines have had to up their algorithm game in order to return quality results since most companies finally got in on SEO. So now Google values new kinds of content when ranking websites—the kind that is traveler created, the kind that is earned, quite possibly the kind that is posted on social… read more »

Three Tips for Using Reviews To Leverage Cross-Platform Trends

by January 21, 2015 11:01 am

The phrase “three screens” has been tossed around a lot the last few years, but it’s officially time to move on. We must broaden our horizons, because travel marketing on the internet is about more than a smartphone, a tablet, or a laptop. It’s about total flexibility. Devices and their screens have transcended themselves to become one large digital mass where every strategy must transform to fit every method of delivery. And the end goal of each initiative must include travelers who feel more in control of their planning and experience. This can be challenging simply because the sheer amount… read more »

Personalizing the Travel Search: How Structured Hotel Review Data Leads to Happier Travelers

by November 11, 2014 8:52 am

An overdue evolution is happening in hotel search. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine how travelers tolerated the rudimentary search capabilities that have been available to them up to now. Doesn’t searching for a “hotel in downtown Miami” seem archaic when the travel industry has so much more information to work with? For instance, it’s entirely possible to search for qualities like ‘excellent service’ or for London accommodations that are similar to Paris’ Molitor, where you stayed last month. With this kind of search functionality, I imagine a world full of much happier travelers who are able to find exactly what… read more »

What Women Really Want: Friendly Service, Stiff Drinks & A Sweet Pool

by August 14, 2014 1:32 pm

Analysis of 50 million verified travel reviews explores differences in what male and female travelers care about most at hotels   Close your eyes for a moment and think of the last time you visited a hotel. What was the first thing you noticed about the service? When posed this question, women will remember the staff’s friendliness (or lack thereof), while men think of the staff’s professionalism (or lack thereof). We recently analyzed 50 million hotel reviews to understand the differences between what women and men care about most during their hotel visits. While overall scores are similar for reviews… read more »