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TripAdvisor Will Now Let You Click Through To The Hotel's Website

November 18, 2009 at 11:14 AM | by | Comments (3)

How many times do you like to click? That’s not a euphemism, but a serious question related to your travel-review browsing and booking. We ask, because yesterday TripAdvisor announced a new "service" which promises to limit your number of clicks.

From January 4, 2010, TripAdvisor will let hotels "enhance" their listing with their URL, telephone number and email address. So customers will be able to click just once to jump from a TripAdvisor review page to the property’s own site. This is certainly a step up from the current system where you get a hotel’s address, but are left to google the website or phone number yourself. But why the change?

Duh! Money, silly! The new system—"TripAdvisor Business Listings"—will cost properties a yearly subscription fee between $600 and over $15,000. (The fee for properties with over 1,000 room is available "on request." Just like asking for the Presidential Suite!) Properties signing up for the new listings will save 50 percent if they get in before January 31.

TripAdvisor readers can already check rates via sites like Expedia and Hotels.com with one click through a TripAdvisor review page, but there’s no question that checking out a hotel’s official site in addition to any external reviews is a must for the savvy traveler.

The properties most likely to spring for the new Business Listings are the smaller, independent B&Bs and boutique hotels who don’t already have a brand presence on TripAdvisor. Theoretically, the direct link should drive more bookings for these properties, but at least one commenter over on USA Today’s hotel blog thinks it’s "insulting" to charge these little guys for the privilege.

And for the record, you can click the little hotel icon below the headline of a HotelChatter story to be taken to the hotel's official site.

What do you think? Do you welcome the changes to the TripAdvisor listings? Or are you quite happy to Google a property’s info on your own? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Comments (3)

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Not insulting at all, just business

I don't think it's insulting for TripAdvisor to charge the small independent hotels for a business listing.  It's not really any different from Yellow Pages charging small businesses to advertise in their book or on the .com.  If anything, it makes more sense for them to list on TripAdvisor due to its relevance and increased conversion potential.
tommyrex on November 18, 2009 at 11:32 PM #Permalink

Financial sense: yes. Good for small hoteliers: no

It's easy to "get" why TA is making this change. It helps monetize more of their traffic, while dealing directly with the natural impulse of users to Google property address info, as you mention.

But this is not the same as the Yellow Pages. TA earns plenty from advertising on property pages, CPA deals for reservations and other revenue streams beyond a typical online listing service.

To supplement that further by charging small properties anything at all is a.) a slap in the face to property owners who already face squeezed margins, and b.) a risk to TA's image.

Either don't display URLs at all or only charge larger hotel chains rather than penalizing mom & pop owners.

Pete Meyers on November 19, 2009 at 11:04 AM #Permalink

Becoming another paid-for listing site

The blogs and travel news sites are thick with articles about the untrustworthiness of TA's reviews (both good and bad) and how far it has moved away from its original "independen, unbiased" stance - there's another article in this vein every day.

This latest move on their part is another step down the road to their becoming just another paid-for listings site.  No way can TA claim to be impartial when those who pay extra for their listings get pushed to the fore.  Sure, it's good business for TA, but it's a long way from the original ethic of TripAdvisor.

The amount of salt required when consulting TA these days far exceeds the recommended healthy daily intake.

Phil Graham on November 21, 2009 at 4:01 AM #Permalink

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