TripAdvisor Reviews – The Good, the Bad, and the Crustiest of 2011

“It looked like a CSI Crime Scene.”

“Crusty.”

“Bug bites.”

“Cockroach filled pool.”

These are just a few of the words used to describe this year’s coveted list of Top 10 Dirties Hotels from TripAdvisor as reported by travelers.

As in previous years, the class of 2011’s Dirtiest Hotels did not have a lack of sickeningly descriptive reviews.

It really is fun to read through bad reviews (when they aren’t about you, of course) so here are a few snippets of my favorites from this year’s list:

“I would have preferred to stay under a bridge or in a dirty rental car.”

- Jack London Inn

“It all started with the manager burning trash in the fireplace in the lobby.”

- Super 8 Estes Park

“They told us that the competition writes the bad reviews and puts them on the internet but don’t believe it its really bad and they don’t care!!!!”

“The hallway smelled of urine.”

- Desert Inn Rose

You get the point.

For more crusty details, check out the rest of TripAdvisor’s list of the Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels in the US.

If you have a strong stomach, don’t miss the Dirtiest Hotels in Europe (“I wish this hotel would burn down so no one else would have to stay here”) and India (“No extra charge for cockroaches at this place”).

Vail HSMAI Lunch and Learn

Join the HSMAI Vail Chapter for a educational luncheon on Wednesday, February 2nd at the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa.

The presenter at the luncheon will be Trent Blizzard, who will share time tested techniques as well as new strategies for 2011 to increase your online conversion rate and how to keep guests away from your competitors.

Topic:
10 Best Ways to Get that Online Booking in 2011

Date:
Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Time:
11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Place:
The Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa
126 Riverfront Lane
Avon, CO  81620

Cost:
$25/member, $35/non-member. Cash or check only.

Contact:
Terri Hanley at thanley@vailresorts.com to register.

TripAdvisor and Google Struggle Continues

According to the WSJblog Digits, TripAdvisor Says Google Won’t Stop Using Its Content

TripAdvisor LLC says Google Inc. has refused its requests to stop using content from TripAdvisor.com, the travel information and reviews site, on Google services that could compete with TripAdvisor.

In an interview this week, Chief Executive Stephen Kaufer said talks between his company and Google broke down after the Internet search giant said it would continue to include TripAdvisor’s user-generated reviews of businesses such as hotels in its Google’s Place pages and Hotpot business-reviews service. Mr. Kaufer said those services compete for Web traffic with his company’s site.

Here is a timeline of the struggle between TripAdvisor and Google:

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, for clearly this skirmish is not over yet.  For many hotels, resorts, and other lodging businesses, TripAdvisor reviews are a powerful element of their marketing success… and they often experience frustration with something they can’t control and often feel is unfair.  Of course, some hotels enjoy great reviews and rankings in TripAdvisor and should be keeping their eye on this development.

We’re headed to PubCon 2010! Are you going?

The Blizzard team is lucky enough to be sending 3 people to PubCon in Las Vegas again this year!

PubCon is the industry’s premier search and social marketing conference. (It does not include sessions about bars or comic book charters as the name may convey.)

SEO Manager Matt Smith, Project Manager Cristin Oldenburg, and Director of Search Strategy Carrie Hill are making the trek to the land of slots and parties to learn the new trends and strategies to help our clients increase their online marketing return on investment.

PubCon is by far one of the largest shows we attend each year, and we generally send a few people.  With 8 simultaneous tracks and 3 full days of content – you need at LEAST 3 people to cover all of the relevant sessions, or a clone or two.

Carrie, our Director of Search, is looking forward to the sessions on Advanced PPC Strategy, Social Media Marketing Ideas and Measurement, SEO, and Conversion/Landing Page optimization.

Carrie notes that:

“Seeing what tools and theories are introduced at PubCon really helps me see where our clients’ need to head with their online marketing strategy.

I love hearing different points of view and I always come home with 3 or 4 pages full of ideas to try, test, and implement!”

Look for Carrie’s Twitter and Facebook updates on sessions like:

  • Hardcore PPC Tactics
  • The Best Tactics in Landing Page Optimization
  • How Do You Optimize For Universal and Personal Search?
  • Increase Your Post Click Conversion Performance
  • Facebook Marketing
  • Optimizing WordPress
  • SEO Design & Organic Site Structure
  • Convergence of Online Marketing and Analytics
  • Interactive Site Review : Organic Focus
  • Tools for Competitive Intelligence

Matt is our SEO Manager and loves all things keyword and architecture result related.  He has this to say about his second visit to PubCon:

“I want to gather more information and grasp more about how Google Instant is changing search behavior and therefore the SERPs for our clients and beyond!”

[Read more...]

The Local Search Ecosystem and its Data Providers

Are you trying to get more out of local search?  Would a road-map help?

Local search has an entire ecosystem composed of dozens of websites that share and syndicate local search content with each other and the wider Internet.

Check out: A Closer Look at the Local Search Data Providers by David Mihm at Getlisted.org.

They have several graphical depictions of the local search ecosystem, the primary data providers in local search, and the data sources for major local search portals.

It’s Officially Official – Yahoo’s Search Results Come from Bing

Big news was announced last week – Yahoo Search is officially powered by Bing’s organic search results.

There have been clues that this would happen including evidence of testing throughout the summer, but now it’s official.

Bing!

Bing Bling Ring

There is also chatter that Yahoo’s paid-advertising platform will be powering Bing’s ads this fall.

It only makes sense that the both organic and paid ads would be driven by the same product…stay tuned!

New Feature – Respond to your Business’s Reviews on Google Places

For years Blizzard has been advising our clients to respond to reviews placed at websites like TripAdvisor, Yelp and Yellowpages.

Until today – reviews left at Google Maps (now called Google Places) were the stepchildren that didn’t offer this feature.
Belabor the fact no more!

Announced today at the Google Lat Long blog, Google now offers verified business owners the ability to respond to reviews made directly on their Google Places page!

Responses will be featured below the review:

Google Reviews

At Blizzard, we recommend everyone: 1) be aware of all reviews made of their business, 2) respond to reviews in a public forum where appropriate; and 3) understand that all feedback is valuable.

Google agrees with this stance and gives some helpful tips for responding to reviews:

1) Be Nice - This isn’t just a guideline – it’s a good idea.
2) Don’t Get Personal – Remember that you’re replying to feedback about an experience, not about you as a person.
3) Feedback is Helpful – Both positive and negative feedback can be good for your business and help it grow.

If your business listing isn’t verified, we advise you to do that as soon as possible.  If it is verified, start responding to reviews  – both negative and positive – to engage with your audience and ensure future viewers of those reviews see you care about each and every guest.