Comments on: Small – But Important – Change on TripAdvisor for Innkeepers

By: Peter Scherman

Peter Scherman — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:13:41 +0000

To have Steve Kaufer, CEO of TripAdvisor commenting on this blog is a HUGE commentary on the efforts Jay has made. It’s kind of like dealing with government officials. If you treat them combatively, you will get nowhere. But if you engage people in civilized, constructive conversation, are willing to try to see the other’s point of view, and are willing to compromise to get something, much can be accomplished.

By: Jay

Jay — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:47:32 +0000

This was something TripAdvisor required, and BedandBreakfast.com tried convincing them to change it. They lauched it with “Official Website.” I believe they might have changed it now, so that it no longer says “Official Website.”

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:15:31 +0000

Whose choice/idea was it to list BedandBreakfast.com’s website in the Official Website category?

By: steve

steve — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:37:20 +0000

I agree that this small change was a long time coming. Kudos to Jay for keeping on us, and his helpful reminders delivered results. While I like the site/service, I’m not a fan of listing bedandbreakfast.com as the official website, as they aren’t, but we all agree that it is great to have them in that set of links, so our visitors, and your prospective guests, can find a way to make a reservation.

Cheers,
Steve Kaufer
CEO, TripAdvisor

p.s. we expect that in the not too distant future we will be able to offer links directly to official websites. I encourage everyone to sign up on our owners page to keep up with announcements we make on the subject. http://www.tripadvisor.com/owners

By: Jay

Jay — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:29:31 +0000

Thanks for the clarification, Eric. You’re right – it is a very good thing to see B&Bs within that box. The only other way I’ve seen links on a property page to a B&B is if that B&B has active inventory on sites like Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, etc. The “Best Deals” box oftentimes will feature links to their pages on Expedia, Hotels, etc. For the 90% of B&Bs NOT on these sites, the “Best Deals” box was a place only for competing hotels to be seen.

Now having a link to their listings on BedandBreakfast.com is great exposure. Your members should be glad that you’re making that investment.

Joe – our work with TripAdvisor makes your dues worthwhile, and your “snack tower” makes my stay at your inn worthwhile! Oh, and the company of the lovely innkeepers is icing on the cake.

By: JRabhan

JRabhan — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:15:17 +0000

Sorry for the typo above. That should have been “but we knew you weren’t shooting for the Moon”. And I do also agree with Eric. It gets them away from looking at hotels and looking on his directory.

By: JRabhan

JRabhan — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:08:34 +0000

Jay, I checked my listing and sure enough, all is as you indicated. Its a small step for man and a small step for the B&B industry…but we knew weren’t shooting for the Moon (bet you’ll get close someday). Very good effort, I’ll add that to my list for dues value!

By: Eric Goldreyer

Eric Goldreyer — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:30:17 +0000

Nice job Jay!

To be clear, the terminology TripAdvisor uses for the links “Official Website” is standard and they would not change it. We tried to have it changed and sent them a half-dozen more appropriate terms but they call this spot “official website” and that is what they tell us they are going to keep calling it.

All in all we felt it was an incredible improvement for innkeepers to now have a link directly to their detailed listing with us where they have photos, links, contact info, avaialbility, video, etc.

Thanks,

Eric Goldreyer
BedandBreakfast.com