Laffitte Conseil

Standing Dog Interactive has launched ReviewAnalyst, an online dashboard for tracking consumer-generated hotel reviews, videos and images on popular travel and social sites

Offered for $99 a month, ReviewAnalyst has already signed up over 100 properties from Omni Hotels, Rydges Hotels & Resorts and Ocean Properties Limited.

ReviewAnalyst pulls information from sites like TripAdvisor, TravelPost, YouTube, flickr and Google, among others. The tool not only provides reports of information posted to sites, but it also tracks trends through an analysis of the comments made by consumers and facilitates a management response.

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10 things you can do in response to travellers' reviews

Traveller reviews have become part of the daily dialogue of web travel shoppers. The architecture of participation that is a basic hallmark of web 2.0 has resulted in users adding value to a site each time they write a review or upload a photo. Up to 84% of people visiting a site hosting consumer generated content (CGC) have their hotel choices affected by what they see. Millions of travellers log on daily and may experience a property through hotel generated photos and written text, but they find reviews and candid photography much more believable.

Many in the industry feel review sites are not objective and may be manipulated. They feel the content is not controllable or actionable and reject the opportunity to manage these sites by saying the comments might be inaccurate. However, what matters in the issue of web 2.0 sites is whether guests perceive them to be accurate. So far, customer research indicates they do. Furthermore, the research shows increasing numbers of possible clients are researching on third party sites, even if they are booking on brand sites.

The model has changed from a brand or property image that was controlled by the supplier, to one that is forged in dialogue with consumers. And this image is being debated at the virtual point of purchase. The combination of increasing numbers of web-savvy consumers, the web 2.0 frenzy focusing on social media, and increased travel site volume, have created a 'wild-west' environment where hotels' traditional comment card programs and advertising dollars are being trumped at the point of decision by dialogue in the public square.

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Finding ways to make new online tools or functionality a success

Companies do not have visibility into where and what travel products consumers are researching and booking at competitor sites. This viewpoint came from Gregory Saks, travel analyst, Compete almost a year back.

On where things stand as of today, Saks said, "Many companies in the industry have become more sophisticated in their understanding of web-wide behaviour and analytics. Almost all major websites have good insight into "local analytics" through companies like Webtrends and Omniture. Now, more and more are connecting the dots between this information and what consumers are doing web-wide, once they leave your site."

Saks, a speaker during EyeforTravel's Travel Distribution Executive Conference 2007 being held in Las Vegas, said the biggest trend is that major travel marketers are embracing user generated content, whereas not too long ago there were few companies beyond the UGC sites themselves that played in the space.

"Today, brands like Starwood, Southwest, and La Quinta are using UGC as part of innovative new campaigns," he says.

In an interview with EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta, Saks spoke about UGC roadmap. Excerpts from an interview:

Do consumers trust bloggers views more than traditional marketing? What is the key differentiator? 

An example I can share is that 82 percent of TripAdvisor users prefer consumer-generated reviews and opinions over a hotel's own marketing of itself. At the same time, 49 percent of these same TripAdvisor users think that consumer-generated content is biased. The takeaway is that consumers like to receive validation from multiple sources of information, even if no single source is perfect.

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UGC sites need to facilitate a purchase decision making process

It is being acknowledged that the biggest effect Travel 2.0 will have is going to be in automating the word of mouth process for planning travel, giving travelers better ideas and direction for planning trips, which will yield richer and more satisfying travel experiences.

So how do experts see Travel 2.0 headed in the next year or so?

"My prediction for the next 12 months is the opening of the other major social networks to third party application developers which will enable Travel 2.0 companies to add travel planning applications with built-in relevancy within those social networking sites. I also expect the social networks will allow this relevancy or social graph to be exported and embedded in other sites. Finally, pursuant to the opening of LinkedIn, I expect a frenzied land grab for social applications that target the business traveler," according to Sam Shank, Vice President, General Manager of TravelPost.com, SideStep.

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Hoteliers, don’t be fooled by the Web 2.0 hype

Social media may become a major force to be reckoned with by hotels, but, it isn’t right now. Remember that your first point of sale for the Internet is now your hotel’s web site. Make sure it’s well designed for search/sales, and it is well promoted, says Neil Salerno.

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Web Video Viewers Logging More Hours

Three-quarters of online video viewers watch more video than they did a year ago, and more than one-half expect to watch even more next year, according to a study conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres and sponsored by AOL and Google.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they preferred keeping ads on video Web sites if it meant that content remained free.

"This study confirms that consumers accept video advertising in exchange for a free viewing experience, which is good news for advertisers," said David Klein, vice president of TNS, in a statement. "As with advertising across all media, if the video advertising is relevant it can contribute to and enhance an engaging media experience, not impair it."

More than three-quarters of respondents said that online video ads were as good as television for learning about advertisers. More than six in 10 respondents said they had taken some action after seeing an online video ad.

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Best Practices for Consumer-Generated Contests

When H.J. Heinz Co. unveils its $57,000 ketchup commercial contest winner on Sunday, the food producer wants to keep egg -- and ketchup -- off its face. Entries from 15 semifinalists show the company's predisposition to favor folksy, goofy, and polished videos.

That wasn't necessarily the case earlier this year after some strange or unsavory contest entry videos popped up on YouTube. One video, "57 Uses for Heinz Ketchup," suggests product uses, including shampoo, shaving cream, thirst quencher, and paint. The gross-out factor notwithstanding, Heinz says it received more than 4,000 qualified entries.

Despite the potential risk for embarrassment, Heinz and other companies still embrace these consumer-generated contests and media. Heinz is planning a second contest next month, offering another $57,000 prize and an opportunity for the ad to air on national TV.

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Web Reputation Monitoring Tools

Several vendors have recently launched “Web Reputation” monitoring tools for hotels. The cost ranges from the absurd for more enterprise-level applications, and some come at a cost of about $150+/month. Supposedly these new tools automate the process of monitoring who says what about the hotel on as many as 25 million consumer-generated sites, plus they claim to automate the hotelier's response to such postings (e.g. negative customer reviews on TripAdvisor).

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UGC Users Outnumber Creators

Even taking into account the power and ease of use of user-generated content tools like digital cameras and affordable audio/video production software, there are more content consumers than creators.

In the US, the number of users of user-generated content will hit 101 million by 2011, up from the 2006 estimate of 69 million.

Globally, the estimated number of user-generated content users will hit 254 million by 2011, up from 128 million in 2006.

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