tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8307132730056862398.post3989426828146413489..comments2023-06-23T07:45:28.484-04:00Comments on Dennis Schaal Blog: TripAdvisor vs. Kayak: Paid Reviews Don't Float My BoatDennis Schaalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12073829623151186628noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8307132730056862398.post-5069175971628104142009-11-02T17:16:10.696-05:002009-11-02T17:16:10.696-05:00That's right! I used TripAdvsor.com when I wan...That's right! I used TripAdvsor.com when I wanted to book a hotel in Miami. Finally I ordered it thorough LMT. good blog.Miami Hotelshttp://www.lastminutetravel.com/Destination/Miami-Hotels.aspxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8307132730056862398.post-4250985090341037282009-03-26T17:12:00.000-04:002009-03-26T17:12:00.000-04:00Dennis,You should reach out to TJ Mahoney at FlipK...Dennis,<BR/>You should reach out to TJ Mahoney at FlipKey. They've set up a very methodical system for managing vacation rental reviews. I'm sure he'd have interesting perspective here.<BR/><BR/>DouglasAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8307132730056862398.post-67791236656627669562009-03-21T17:46:00.000-04:002009-03-21T17:46:00.000-04:00Dennis,You raise some great points about the chall...Dennis,<BR/><BR/>You raise some great points about the challenges of sharing revenue with the creator of review content, and I agree with you that such a program would need significant controls and oversight.<BR/><BR/>I didn't address the issue of fraudulent reviews in my post - as background, we actively screened for fake reviews when I ran TravelPost, but found less than .03% of all reviews were problematic out of hundreds of thousands posted. The ones that were fake were easy to identify based on their content and technical indicators (IP address, etc) and immediately removed. But, despite the low incidence of fraud, it's a serious issue as one fake review out of a million can undermine confidence in the entire system.<BR/><BR/>To implement a royalty program with review writers, I'm confident that the issues you raise could be resolved, but it would take some extra effort and continued diligence. For example, to qualify for a revenue share, confirmation of stay could be required from the poster (via an emailed receipt). Or, reviews must include 2+ original photos of the property (as it's harder to write a fake review if you don't have photos of the hotel.) Another idea is that reviews that qualify for revenue sharing could be identified as such to the reader of the review.<BR/><BR/>Best,<BR/>Sam Shank - DealBase.com CEOsamshankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17636448951799518259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8307132730056862398.post-88522582714677991502009-03-20T14:57:00.000-04:002009-03-20T14:57:00.000-04:00Hi Dennis,We agree with you. Paying for content d...Hi Dennis,<BR/><BR/>We agree with you. Paying for content doesn't seem to create good incentives for reviewers and may taint the content. Plus it's not Kayak or TravelPost's style.<BR/><BR/>But we do intend to aggregate content from thousands of travel sites...some of whom may pay for content. We do list the source of that content and allow users to suppress any website they find inaccurate.<BR/><BR/>Best,<BR/>Steve Hafner (Kayak CEO)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com