What? You didn't know USA Today forked over some of the $3 million in seed funding for another consumer-generated review site -- this one, dedicated to hotels?
Don't feel bad; I also just learned about Hotel Me, which quietly launched in mid-September. The startup is elbowing its way into a market already crowded by established brands including TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Expedia, Yelp and Google Places.
Hotel Me's angle: It will only publish reviews by guests whose stays have been verified by the hotels themselves via an automated authentication system. That's designed to make the site more credible in an industry where, according to Hotel Me, an estimated 40% of travel reviews are actually fake.
More than two months after launching, Hotel Me is gaining traction very, v-e-r-y slowly. Searching big cities like New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas, I found just one or two reviews at several well-known properties, and none at others.
I can't find any information about USAT's investment in the paper's list of press releases. Travel industry site Skift reported the partnership in September. (Go to the bottom of the story, written by Dennis Schaal, and you'll see this interesting disclosure: "The author writes the Digital Traveler column for USA Today.")
Schaal says USAT has committed to integrating Hotel Me into USA Today Travel and to promote the joint venture through paid and in-kind marketing, plus will handle ad sales.
Do you use consumer review sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
More than two months after launching, Hotel Me is gaining traction very, v-e-r-y slowly. Searching big cities like New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas, I found just one or two reviews at several well-known properties, and none at others.
I can't find any information about USAT's investment in the paper's list of press releases. Travel industry site Skift reported the partnership in September. (Go to the bottom of the story, written by Dennis Schaal, and you'll see this interesting disclosure: "The author writes the Digital Traveler column for USA Today.")
Schaal says USAT has committed to integrating Hotel Me into USA Today Travel and to promote the joint venture through paid and in-kind marketing, plus will handle ad sales.
Do you use consumer review sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
USAT in cahoots with Malek père et fils? Yikes.
ReplyDeletewhat ever happened to USAT's "the point" for digital advertising at hotels?
ReplyDeleteSmells like a Hunke-Maslowski production to me. Maybe Rudd Davis will guest star?
ReplyDeleteNeed some outside consultants to tell us how to get this baby going. But first, we need some studies to tell us that yes, people stay in hotels when they travel.
ReplyDeletehotel me. deal chicken.
ReplyDeleteWho comes up with these names, poker players?
We use Tripadvisor rather extensively and have found it to be helpful and reliable for the most part. Phoney reviews (there are few) are fairly easy to detect and reject.
ReplyDeleteShould have called it HotelChicken.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting concept. However, Yelp and Trip Advisor are very established and it will be difficult to compete with them for market share. The key is getting quality, reliable reviews for the majority of properties. Otherwise it is not of use for most consumers.
ReplyDelete$3 million thrown out the window, if you ask me. Instead of me,too, investments, where is the innovative thinking?
ReplyDeleteWhat? Another late-comer entry by USAT to an already crowded field?
ReplyDeleteSay it ain't so.
Hotelme the money !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete