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November 2007
The Archives
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Internet, Travel & Tourism
PhocusWright on Twitter
I’m using my twitter account for live blogging. Stephen, who’s sitting next to me is doing the same.
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Internet, Travel & Tourism
VibeAgent Launches (finally)
I’ve been a member of VibeAgent for a while now. And I’ve been wondering all this time when they would launch their service, while pondering their service.
VibeAgent combines user reviews of hotels, a social network for travelers with a Meta Search engine. The meta search engine includes the ability to search for hotel with a certain “vibe”. Select criteria that are important, or unimportant to you (hip, modern, lively, boutique, etc.) and hotels will be sorted by their VibeIndex.
The VibeIndex is based on the user ratings. When rating a hotel, you also rate the hotel for it’s hipness, modernness, etc. It’s an interesting concept for sure. When the search results are presented, it doesn’t tell the user exactly how the properties were sorted the way they are. I would like to see a number for each of my criteria (‘4 of of 7 users considered this hotel hip’, for example). It feels arbitrary and random right now. There aren’t a lot of reviews yet either. Obviously because the website has only been in beta so far. Time will tell if more reviews will increase the relevancy of the results.
The meta search is very slick. It offers many (if not all) of the Kayak features and more. It’s very web 2.0. One area for improvement is the way until search results are presented. In Kayak, you see results as they come in. In VibeAgent, you have to wait until all results are aggregated.
The social network revolves to a large degree around customer reviews. The tie in with the meta search could provide an opportunity that currently doesn’t exist. There aren’t many users yet so time will tell if and how a community will form.
I think VibeAgent is a promising new entry in the travel space with lots of potential. They key will be to build a strong community of reviewers. I wish Adam Healey and his team success in his venture. -
Internet, Travel & Tourism
PhocusWright Day 3 – The size of your reputation, not the size of your marketing budget counts
Those were words from Philip C. Wolf, President and CEO of PhoCusWright, in his opening monologue for PhoCusWrights “braving the long tail” conference, minutes ago. His thesis argued that the long tail provides the next big opportunity for the travel industry. No longer are low volume products uneconomical. The internet provides small operators with unlimited niche markets to market their products. It’s just the next in a history of changes the travel industry has faced, and will face in the future. And just like in the past “some with force ahead, others resist the change, and others will have to play expensive catch-up”. -
Internet, personal, Travel & Tourism
Blogging Workshop – Blogging with the long tail of travel
11.13.07 | Permalink | 4 Comments
We just finished our blogging summit and panel at the PhoCusWright conference. Ram Badrinathan, Jens Thraenhart, Kevin May, Stephen Joyce and myself talked about our blogs, the opportunity User Generated Content brings for the travel industry and how blogs can be used in corporate PR. The room was packed, probably 50 people or more. The conversation was very diverse and insightful. Lots of people stayed after the session to ask questions and gave good feedback about the session. I’m very please about it.
Our blogger summit was also a great success. I was wondering how it would unfold. The first session before our panel was attended by about 15 people, most of whom blog. It was very nice to meet some of the people I follow online, and also to meet new people who blog.
The session after our panel was huge. The room was packed with people and was almost a continuation of the panel conversation, but this time with the whole room. Very cool. Lots of travel companies are struggling about developing strategies about how to deal with social media. Marthy from aimClear provided valuable insight and entertainment about social media marketing.
I’m very proud of a new term I invented when we were talking about the Tips from the T-List book; offline link baiting. That’s essentially what the book is.
The hour and a half flew by. I had a great time. Thanks everybody for attending the sessions. -
Internet, Travel & Tourism
PhoCusWright SMX – Afternoon of Day 1
11.12.07 | Permalink | 2 CommentsThe afternoon session haven’t provided me with a lot of insights, so I’m not going to spent a lot of time on blogging about it. I did pick some pieces of information that stood out for me. British Airways spends 30% of their Ad budget on search and amenity based copy in PPC campaigns is twice as effective as price based copy.
Jon Schepke listed a range of Social Network tracking tools I couldn’t write down in the short time the slide was up, I hope the presentation will be posted later so I can add them here.
Regarding local search; I learned two new things today. One is that users are starting to use ZIP codes as part of their search queries. Another is that Search Engines use data integrity as part of their relevancy algorithm. That means that a companies address information needs to match on several data sources.
The “Meet the Search Engines” session was interesting. Smart people on the panel, but they sounded like athletes after a match. No real revelations, only a few tips here and there. -
Internet, Travel & Tourism
PhoCusWright SMX – Morning of Day 1
11.12.07 | Permalink | 2 CommentsThe first morning of the SMX conference included a session by Comscore, Hitwise and PhoCusWright researchers. Overall, this session lacked a bit of depth. But some trends that you observe in other areas were discussed as part of this “How consumers use search in travel” session.
One area was the move from Online Travel Agents and other 3rd party websites to supplier websites. More consumers go to supplier direct websites after a search.
Some interesting data I noted from Comscore’s James Lamberti:
- In travel, 40% of consumers select a PPC ad vs organic results (12% of total search traffic). A further breakdown would be interesting. For example, how does that compare for accommodation, air, transportation, attractions, destinations etc.
- 88% sales occur more then 60 days after the first time al search was conducted related to the purchase.
And from Hitwise’s Bill Tancer:
- 32% of travel website traffic is referred by a search engine.
- 35% of traffic in the travel category is for maps, 21% air, 10% accommodation, 10% destinations, 10% olta’s
Bill also mentioned that the demographic profile for website visitors “changes frequently”. I’d like to learn more about that, but it could have been part of a sales pitch to subscribe to their service.
and from Chris Sherman (PhoCusWright):
- 12%-17% of searches on a Meta Search Engine leads to a conversion (vs. 1-2% on a generic search engine)
The answers to the questions from the audience wasn’t great. Bill and James obviously travel the conference circuit to create interest into their service with canned presentations. Their knowledge of a specific vertical isn’t necessarily deep.
The “Optimizing the Paid/Organic Mix” session also contained some nuggets of information. It did delivered one aha moment for me, but opposite to the presenter’s point. The point was that 67% of searches are a result of offline influences. That includes TV, print, word-of-mouth, etc. Offline is obviously important was a conclusion. Is it though? People have to learn about something somewhere, and it includes word-of-mouth. What’s more intriguing to me is that 33% of searches were a result of online exposure. A third of people essentially become aware of something online. That’s huge. I’d like to see that trended over time.
David Zuls from Hawaii Online Advertising wasn’t the best speaker, but he did provide very good content. He knew his stuff, but suffered from a lack of time and too many things he wanted to share. He presented a way to look at search keywords and derive a whole range of intelligence from it. A geographic location, a type of accommodation or experience, a brand, etc. By mining this data, you can be more intelligent about your marketing activities. What activities are combined with destinations, for example.
Another one from David was about navigational search. People use search engines to get to a specific website. A search for a brand name is often just a search to find the brand website. Most companies include their brand name in PPC campaigns, even though they’re #1 in the search engine. This could be smart or expensive to get visitors you would get anyways. You should test the effect of not buying these keywords and applying your resources elsewhere. The overall effect could be better.
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Internet, Travel & Tourism
Phocuswright SMX live updates
I’m going to try and send updates to my Twitter account during the week, so check there for updates. Unfortunately, there are no power plugs in the room so I’ll have to use my blackberry. -
Management
Complacency will be the architecture of your downfall
11.10.07 | Permalink | 4 Comments
The highlight of the conference was without a doubt the presentation from Jeremy Gutsche, Chief Trend Hunter at TrendHunter.com, who said “Complacency will be the architecture of your downfall”. He told a story about Smith Corona, at one time the largest typewriter manufacturer. They saw the rise of the personal computer but essentially said “there will always be people who need a typewriter”. They are now bankrupt.
That made me think. How many times do you hear somebody say “yeah, but people still want to…..”. All the time right? These words by itself is telling. It acknowledges that a change is inevitable, but combined with the refusal to accept it and the argument that change doesn’t happen overnight. It’s based on having comfort with the status quo, the fear of the new and perceived risk associated with it. That’s not leadership, that’s complacency.
From now on, whenever somebody says something like “yes, but people still want to…”, please respond with “complacency will be the architecture of you downfall.” -
Internet, Marketing, Travel & Tourism
Canada-e-Connect
We finished Canada-e-Connect yesterday. I had a great time at the conference. Jens and his team did a fantastic job putting it together. The speakers were excellent, the award show very cool (and short). It was nice to take home the Gold metal for best innovation in the public sector for our HelloBC Blogs website. The people attending diverse and from all over the country. I’ve met a whole range of new and interesting people. The Tips from the T-List book turned out great, although I probably would have run a spell check over my entries if I would have know (oops, blame it on my Dutch roots).
The thing that I’ve taken away from the conference is that the ongoing evolution of the internet and impact on our culture, consumer behaviour and travel and tourism is something that requires consistent attention and should be an ongoing priority.
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William Bakker is Chief Strategist at Destination Think!. These are my personal thoughts.
